#Beacon pines game how to
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“Believe it or not, the initial game concept was a rhythm-based RPG battler with a fantasy theme. “The anthropomorphic characters are more of a byproduct of the original game concept than a deliberate choice,” Meyer tells us. What’s the world like?Beacon Pines is a mountain town made up of animal inhabitants. By exploring all of the potential paths the story can take, you will piece together the various mysteries at the heart of Beacon Pines, and ultimately discover the most rewarding ways for the story to end.” “This often involves bringing a Charm (the words you collect) back to an alternate story path, and seeing completely different results based on that one altered word. Whereas you might progress through a Metroidvania by unlocking new abilities which open up new areas, in Beacon Pines you progress by unlocking new words which open up new branches of the story,” Meyer continues. It’s a bit tricky to explain, but internally we often talk about Beacon Pines as a Metroidvania in story form.

“One of the core mechanics is something we call The Chronicle: a living tree of story branches in the book which the player uses to navigate through the possible paths they can take. In fact, we’ve gone to great lengths to make it easy, and in many cases necessary, to go back and try different choices,” Meyer begins. “The game does not insist on players being careful with their choices.

#Beacon pines game series

The Beacon Pines Steam page tells us that following one series of events can result in new charms to be used in another series of events, meaning we can explore different versions of this same main story. Luka will collect golden charms as we progress through the game, which we refer to at key points in the story to change what happens: one example given by the devs is the phrase, “We were just gonna go - for the day,” with the option for the missing word to be “chill,” “ponder,” or “hide.” These important moments play on even further - we’ll make use of The Chronicle, an “interactive story tree” that reacts to and grows with the choices we make. So now there are those two layers, the book which contains the story and is used to explore the branching narrative, and the world inside the book, where the story is played out as Luka.” After prototyping the book, it just clicked as a great metaphor to encapsulate the game. “The art style and word-play mechanic always reminded us of a storybook. You would find words, and use them in conversations with other characters,” Meyer explains.

“Early in development, it was all about exploring the town as Luka. We play as both Luka, the main character of Beacon Pines, and as the reader of the book that it’s set in. What’s the gameplay like?So, this is where it gets extra interesting.

#Beacon pines game how to

From the Fellow Traveller site, we know that “Something strange is happening at the old warehouse, and Luka and his friends seem to be the only ones taking notice,” while the Hiding Spot site warns us to expect “Glowing trees, shady corporations, running for your life, and never knowing who to trust.” One key part of the game is that we decide how the story goes at key points: Luka can find golden charms around the world of Beacon Pines, and these charms let us, as the book’s reader, choose how to proceed. We play as both the reader of the book and as its main character, Luka. What’s it about?Beacon Pines is set within the pages of a storybook.