Point Of No Return

Point Of No Return is a pixel art puzzle platformer.

You play as an alchemist who set out to investigate the corruption and shadow presence in the land.
To succeed in your task you have to utilize and master your alchemist tool kit which comes in the form of a pocket dimension under your cloak. Here you can utilize different mechanics to collect and combine materials and and interact with various mechanism the obstacles set in your path.

The scope of this prototype covers a tutorial level where you learn the core concepts of the game with a few select materials and puzzle mechanisms.

Controls:
Move Left = A, Arrow Left
Move Right = D, Arrow Right
Jump = W, Arrow Up, Space
Interaction and moving items around = Mouse Button 1

Throwing items = Mouse Button 2

The alchemists  hands are stuck in the pocket dimension that is the bottom interaction section. All interactions between the world and player that are not based on movement or weight (basically hand interactions) happen through the contextual window. No other means of direct interaction between the player and the world.

You can pick up or interact with objects that show up in the dimensional context window. Objects that can be picked up can be moved about freely in the interaction session.
Some of these items can be placed into your alchemy bowl and combined into new objects

You can drop or throw objects from your inventory back into the world by throwing it into the context window. When doing so the angle and velocity of your mouse movement is translated into throw velocity and the object will be thrown relative to where the alchemist is facing.
Some other objects that show up in the context window are static but can be interacted with to solve puzzles.

While this may take a bit of getting used to the separation of contexts can be an interesting concept and it avoids constant switching between world and UI. The mouse/pointer can rest in its own interactive space and movement buttons are responsible for motion in the world. This adds a layer of separation of concern of different interaction types and can lead to different approaches and solutions to puzzles and general problem solving.

Game Design Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a5zYJnncVGpvgvhnXC5xNGbzOOkGd5ixvqO0vswrbiQ/...

The Team:
Necromantic - Game/Interaction Design, Gameplay Programming, Administration
Ricardo - Technical Programming
CEED - Art Director, (Technical) Artist
MOONtyzoo - GDD Design, Level Design, Gameplay Programming, Game Feel
Blueb4ry - Sound Design