Restibo
Circles and squares on monochrome
Role: Producer / Designer / Artist
Team: Ankur Agarwal, Justin Chan, Chelsea Howe, Wan Loh, Rajiv Puvvada, Ara Yessayan
Download: http://restibo.manojalpa.net
Dev Summary: A complete PC game created in XNA over four months in Spring 2009.
Concept: Alone in a world of circles and squares, Restibo seeks out the seven keys needed to unlock the dark planet core. Scattered amongst the hanging blocks are Voids, floating circles that nullify gravity and contain items like feathers, springs, spikes, claws, and bubbles. These items help Restibo advance through the layers of the atmosphere, flinging from one block to the next to reach larger and more intricate Voids.
Design Notes: Restibo takes place in a completely open world. Though it takes enhanced abilities to reach the highest levels of the atmosphere, one can take any path to reach those areas. In testing, many players find keys out of vertical order, and ‘play’ with the environment as much as they move through it. There are many purely aesthetic points of interest, fun ‘toy’ parts of the world embedded in the challenge. This draws on an enchantment principle that not everything in a game needs to have a point or purpose – some of it should just be fun.