The Art of Making Memories

When starting up a new game, players are eager to create characters, explore maps, and gather as many resources as they can to begin their adventure. But in a world where memories are the currency, what does that gameplay look like? 

Memories and mementos are two similar concepts. Memories are things remembered from the past usually passed down through stories. Mementos are physical objects usually handed down through families or kept to remember people, places or events. We experience these things in our day-to-day lives, but we often don’t know the memories held by others around the globe. Mementos get lost and memories can be forgotten – but we believe you can always find them again. 
The WoU Game is a garden of memories that have been lost. The memories are built from a blend of reality and mythology. Animals roam and plants grow just like in their natural habitats, while tales from past generations inform the narrative of quests.

The goal? For players to collaborate in order to revive the world and its garden and explore further. 

There are of course things players can collect – clay blocks, colors, patterns, music and seeds. These items allow players to revive the world and are inspired by nature. Music pieces are from a host of different places around the globe. These could be tunes from single instruments like drums or flutes, but also whole musical fragments. They can be added to create richer atmospheres for other players to better understand the world around them. 

The best part about using memories and mementos as an online currency is that players who engage more gain the most. Experience drives the gameplay and in doing so unlocks more opportunities to create more memories. See what we did there? When you first discover something new in the game, NOLA our guide will collect information as a memento so you as the player can go back and understand more about its uses and origin. 

We caught up with Veronica, our WoU Game Producer, to find out more about the decisions on what players can gather. 

“Animals and NPCs (non-playable characters) that hold lots of wisdom and importance have their own logbook within the inventory. Players can’t own these, but they can still learn from them. Each plant and animal has its own past and place in the world; it wouldn't be fair for one player to take them all. The reason we did this was largely to teach young people to be respectful of nature and others’ land. Players don't even own the sculptures they create as they will always belong to the collective memory of the WoU and the collaborative moments created with them!”
The collaborative nature of the game comes to life in many ways. Players can leave items on the ground for other players to pick up and by combining dewdrops and seeds they can work together to create new life. You can uncover mementos together while solving puzzles to learn more memories and also curate statues with resources found through play. The players become artists inspired by the natural beauty that is hidden throughout. 

We can’t wait to see the memories that will be created along the way by our players. We’re even working up some new ways to share memories but we don’t want to give away all our secrets just yet.