To the player, the decision to leave that space empty is obviously intentional, and a clue that manipulation of frames is central to Gorogoa’s gameplay. Gorogoa starts with a frame, and a large white empty space. That’s what got me started down this design path.” You have to pull all your consciousness back out, and move on to the next. “By working on a comic I found that you can’t ignore the frame, because your mind doesn’t disappear inside any one frame for very long. However, there is also space outside of the frame, says Roberts, and that space is fertile for design and gameplay. It’s like virtual reality though sheer will power.” You forget the room you’re in, you forget the world you’re in, you mentally project yourself through the screen into the world on other side. “We’ve learned to forget that the frame is there.
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“With the exception of virtual reality, everything we consume is inside a frame, whether it’s the edge of a TV, the edge of a phone, or the edge of a movie screen,” Roberts says. And this is where Roberts found inspiration. The fundamental building block of most comic books – and Gorogoa – is a single, framed image. I had to do something with it, even if it wasn’t a comic.” “This patchwork, or mosaic of framed scenes, is what I found compelling. “It was composing the page that interested me more than telling a sequential story,” Roberts says.
Prior to starting work on Gorogoa, Roberts also spent time developing ideas for a comic book, and although the project remains unfinished, the exercise proved useful, and influential. In practice, I think it often goes the other way, and that the process of discovering what story to tell, and what themes to express, is both conscious and unconscious.” “You should decide what story you want to tell, and then decide which mechanics express that story. “I had to find a way to build a story structure with stronger thematic through-lines,” Roberts explains. What it lacked – and what took many years to come together – was its story and themes. Conceptually, its core elements were in place, but Roberts admits it was not a fully complete articulation of his vision. The response, however, was positive, with players praising the demo’s dreamlike qualities. The first demo for Gorogoa was released in 2012. I ended up throwing out a lot of prematurely polished work, and I maybe even learned more slowly because I think some lessons you can only learn by finishing something.” “I think Gorogoa is not actually a counter example to that, but I think that inexperience added years to the project. “The conventional wisdom is to start with something simple, finish it, move on, do something slightly more ambitious, finish that, and move on.” “You cant skip the learning process when making games,” he says. Beginning his talk, Roberts says the extended development time was unavoidable given his lack of experience.
Gorogoa is all the more remarkable for being Roberts’ first game, taking over five years from inception to release. Its achievements were also recognised at this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards, where it won the award for Best Mobile Game. On its release last December, Gorogoa received glowing reviews, with critics praising its intricate design, melancholic atmosphere, and emotional impact. In his talk at GDC 2018, Buried Signal’s Jason Roberts spoke about the themes and complex design process of his meditative point-and-click adventure, Gorogoa.