Worldbuilding

World-First Worldbuilding

This method tends to have strong visual elements.

About

Getting Started

What makes the world tick? What are the rules of the world?

Start with a town, country, or planet and theme it up

Bullet-point a history

What are its people like? What are their battles and struggles?

Great stories can be born from contradictions in the world’s rules

Concept Art

Below are a few pieces of concept art from various sources.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Examples in The Sandbox

In Alpha Season 1, The Sandbox introduced three factions that are great examples of world-first worldbuilding. Biomes define colour palettes, energy sources, houses, and people who live there.

Heroes Faction

Concept Art

Colours Biome Frozen trees, wild grass, pieces of snow Energy Sources Basic mechanics, using Nature’s strengths Houses Nordic / medieval houses made of wood and metal

People Fierce people from the North who crave challenge to reveal themselves as valorous

Scientists Faction

Concept Art

Colours Biome Desert, sand Energy Sources Energy from wind and petrol machines Houses Oriental houses with metallic elements

People Scavenger tribes of technologically greedy researchers drawn to solving mysteries

Oracles Faction

Concept Art

Colours Biome Forest, nature, ruins, rocks Energy Sources Magic and creature taming, fireflies Houses Ruins and old temples made of rocks and plants

People Spiritual people living in symbiosis with nature who will go to any length to defend it

Character-First Worldbuilding

This method has a small number of strongly developed characters.

About

Getting Started

Begin with the main character and expand to other characters in their world

What is their identity? What do they want?

Fill in the world around them

What environment and culture needs to be built to support them and who they are?

Fellow-heroes? Rivals? Villains?

Concept Art

Below are a few pieces of concept art from various sources.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Examples in The Sandbox

"Professor Stitch"

Crevasse Studios has won or placed in the top 4 in multiple game jams. In this first place winning entry, “Professor Stitch” is a mad scientist who plots revenge against the local town's ungrateful inhabitants who have benefitted from his brilliant inventions.

Along with its delightfully irreverent humour from a strong lead character, the game's logic was also polished and clever.

Read the Creators' Interview to learn more about "Professor Stitch" and other projects from Crevasse Studios.

Concept-First Worldbuilding

This method may be strongly reliant upon gameplay logic.

About

Getting Started

Begin with how your world must function

Focus on a narrative element or specific mechanics, or focus on game logic

Ask “what if” to brainstorm, let wild ideas flow

• What if everyone is a superhero?

• What if the player is on a moving train?

• What if the player knows the future?

Example Concepts

Examples

My Hero Academia - it's abnormal in this world to NOT have super powers

One Punch Man - the main character can knock out anyone with a single punch

Omniscient Reader - the main character is the only reader of a dark apocalyptic web novel that becomes a reality, with scenarios and skill leveling like a video game

Examples in The Sandbox

"Space Hero"

Multi award winning creators Sho, Tokinari, and Senm made the winning entry for the Gamee game jam. “Space Hero” is an innovative top down game where the player stands on top of a spaceship to shoot at a variety of enemy ships and collect helpful items for health, defense, and offense.

The game simulated light speed travel through space with a combination of a fixed camera, a stationary object as the player's center of gameplay, and moving platform behaviour on the scenery, including light streaks, stars, planets, and more.

With basic movement buttons and pressing E to interact, the gameplay fits the casual genre well, but it feels like there is a lot more depth due to the attention to visual details and the agency the player has to impact the outcome even with a small range of motion.

"Train of the Dead"

This top 3 winner in The Walking Dead game jam used a similar concept of using a stationary object as the center of gameplay and creating a sense of motion with platform behaviour applied to all of the scenery. However, "Train of the Dead" included added pressure that made the gameplay quite thrilling.

Creator _Nickk pushed players to get to the end of the train before it's too late, all while fighting off zombies while evading obstacles, making difficult jumps, and using objects to make progress forward. It's a challenging game that adds a layer of complexity through action and a sense of urgency.

Big Picture: Metaverse Worldbuilding

This method requires communication with your community about when the next "chapter" of your story will be released. You can tell linear or branching stories and include hubs or other types of Experiences that are not directly in line with the story, but match the theme and refer to your lore, ethos, etc.

About

Tell Stories Across LANDs and Time

Simple worlds can have high replay value, complex universes can foster exploration and community

Supplement your Metaverse worlds with comics, videos, movies, books, livestream events, and more

Team up with your Metaverse neighbors

A slice in time that can evolve and be many things

Empower players with opportunities to share their own story with others about playing in your worlds as themselves or as the protagonists you create

Transform Storytelling

Transforming Storytelling Through the Metaverse

Combine, mash, and grow

People will want to play stories before LANDs are updated (see example)

The more LANDs you connect to your story and world, the larger its reach becomes

Videos may be created to document the living history of Metaverse worlds that evolve over time

People may purchase assets you mint and expand your universe with their own take on your stories in Game Maker, or they can join your team in developing your vision further

Example

Here is an example of how you can use multiple LANDs to tell a story over time.

Multi-week, multi-LAND metaverse worldbuilding example