Starting over a little bit
What are the reasons
In a previous post I mentioned the scope of creating your own world and how that was not something we had time to do. We instead came up with the idea of using public domain characters to not only speed up the proccess but also help with reaching out to players. It turned out we stil ended up trying to create a whole world for these characters and after many weeks of trying to make it work it was to much. So we did what you always have to do when creating games, we iterated on it.
What happend next
After deciding to base our game on his art, we put a considerable amount of effort into refining the layout and how to showcase the art. Even this part turned out to be quite a bit of work, but it affirmed that we were headed in the right direction.
Crafting a story for the game was important as well. After exploring different options, we settled on a storytelling theme where players take on the roles of adventurers, sharing their stories about their experiences in the Bauer Forest. The player with the most compelling story emerges as the winner. Personally, I found this approach to be very appealing.
John Bauer
It happened that our original concept of a magical forest came back to us when we came across the idea of using public domain art by the well-loved artist John Bauer. His art, which we've liked since our childhood, not only looks amazing but also holds plenty of storytelling elements that fit our game perfectly.
