This week, our focus shifted deeper into the game design experience and narrative development. We also wrapped up our logo, half sheet, and team photo, which are now ready to represent our project.

Tech Progress

On the tech side, we finally received the new Tilt Five headset. While the differences from the earlier version aren’t especially prominent, we’ve decided to move forward with Tilt Five as our platform. With that settled, our attention is now on designing the map, props, and overall interactive flow for the experience.

Narrative Progress

We’ve started shaping the core narrative for the game:

Primary Case Narrative
Two elders have lost treasured items. Billy Jo Jive and Smart Susie Sunset overhear their story and take on the case to recover what’s missing.

The Elders’ Backgrounds

• One elder is a visual artist, missing their rare spray paint cans once used as a graffiti artist in the 70s–80s (styles: Wildstyle, Pieces, T2B, E2E).
  
• The other is a music artist, producer, and DJ, missing a crate of rare albums.
  
• Together, they’re part of an artist collective dedicated to preserving and growing Hip Hop culture, which also includes:
  

Puzzle & Tool-Use Activities

We’re exploring how to weave puzzles and interactive tools into the experience so that they feel rooted in both Hip Hop culture and the story.

Puzzles

• Match Artist to Work: Connect a person’s picture and name to their invention, artwork, or musical piece.
  
• Digital Safe Box: Players solve for a passcode to unlock items (like a radio or its batteries).
  
• Memory Game: A 4×2 or 4×3 matching tile puzzle (e.g., art → artist, homophones). Correct matches reveal clues.
  
• Wall Clock Puzzle: A broken clock requires players to set the hands to a specific time (hinted at in a 1970s newspaper clipping).
  
• Album Search: Players find the right album by clues (e.g., “track about a color and a fruit”)—built for replayability.
  
• Graffiti Mural Puzzle: Use can colors or patterns to reveal hidden images/messages.
  

Tool-Use Activities

• Flashlight: Shine light to reveal hidden items or shadow-coded symbols.
  
• Radio: Piece together fragmented stories or compare narrators’ accounts to spot contradictions.
  
• Documents: Reassemble torn pages, solve ciphers, or decode hidden words through anagrams.
  
• Map Interaction: Place magnetic cards/markers on a tabletop map to reveal routes.
  
• Phone: Receive calls or messages from characters; sometimes audio-only for simplicity.
  
• Evidence Board: Potential RFID integration to connect collected evidence.
  

Slang Decoder: Translate era-specific slang in newspapers, ads, or radio chatter to uncover clues.