Game Concept

Tonbale is a rouge-like, tactical role-playing game 

Concept: 

In Tonbale, you will explore a linear dungeon where you will need to find items and fight encounters with enemies in order to survive, progress, and escape! 

The primary mechanics are exploration, item collection and turn based combat. 
 

Concept creation and Influences:  

As Tonbale has rouge-like elements, the player should feel as though they have progressed even when they do not complete the game, features like shortcuts and hidden powerups will reward game knowledge and the player should find themselves getting further every time. 

The gameplay will take place in two scenes, exploration and combat. While exploring, the player must navigate the world to unlock new areas and eventually escape. On their journey, the player will encounter other creatures, also trapped in the dungeon. By talking to them, the player can learn about their fate, this is how most of the lore will be established, though some of these creatures may be hostile and the player may have to fight.  

In combat, the player will have to decide which of their abilities to use in order to defeat their opponent.  

The player will be able to find items in the world which will affect their performance in combat. This mechanic will challenge the player to play in a way which is creative and strategically effective. The player may not always find the same items in every run, so they will not be able to rely on the same strategy twice. Every combat encounter will be a simple puzzle, and the player should ask themselves questions like “how do I effectively beat this enemy, with the resources that I have?”. 

Audience and competitive analysis: 

Tonbale’s mechanics are designed to be intuitive enough that a player can learn them as they play, the potential audience is fairly wide, but it is mainly geared towards people who enjoy role playing games and passive storytelling, or people who are looking for a light adventure to pass the time. 

I am aiming to keep things simple, the gameplay will be referential to older JRPG and TRPG style games, but the audience will not need experience with this type of game in order to learn and understand the world of Tonbale.  

Game treatment and Concept Art: 

You explore the dungeon, as you try to escape, you encounter creatures trapped with you. Befriend them or challenge them in combat. Collect items to get stronger and find your way out! 

Turn based combat, inspired by final fantasy, pokemon and the megami tensai franchise. Use abilities and train your character. 

Development Concepts: 

Because the world is linear, branches of gameplay will be defined by how the player levels up their character. For example, if the player invests time in using magic; their magic stats will improve. This will create a feedback loop where the player is encouraged to take advantage of their strengths. It also ensures that if a player wishes to be proficient in one skill, they must neglect another. Because of this the player will have vulnerabilities they must be aware of. 

The world will be built using tile maps, with a few interactive game objects like keys, doors, item pickups, NPCs and simple physics objects. 

When the player encounters another creature, they can choose to fight, run away or attempt to talk to the creature. If the player engages in combat, they must use one basic attack or ability per turn to defeat the enemy. The player and the creatures will have stats which determine health, mana, magic damage and physical damage.  

Combat Diagram :

Images:

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_system

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-top-25-rpgs-of-all-time-pokemon-gold-and-silver