leval studios

game design startup located in Graz - Austria

[leval-studios]

elevator pitch

Imagine this situation:

You're in an elevator and you have one chance, one opportunity to pitch your game idea to a game firm boss. He's interested to listen to you for the duration of the elevator ride. So we decided we'd say this:

Loodus is a game that uses a wide range of mini-games to draw the player’s attention to the problems of our planet. It shows how to lead a sustainable life in harmony with nature and its resources by using real-life tasks that can be transferred into the player‘s life.

did we get your attention? 😉

[leval-studios]

this is our app logo for loodus. Stay curious ! 📱 special thanks to our team member & designer Laura 🤗

[leval-studios]

loodus teaser

Poverty, hunger, animal deaths, natural disasters - Loodus shows you a world that might become ours if we don't start working on ourselves and the way we treat our earth. With the help of various missions you will be made aware of grievances and contribute to their solution. Help lemurs find their way out of the rainforest, regulate the distribution of food resources equally among all continents and save the male chicks from the shredder in the factory!

This is too unrealistic for you? Don't worry: Loodus is no ordinary game that only gives you a more critical awareness of those seemingly unsolvable problems - already the first levels actively integrate practical changes into your everyday life, which not only allows you to achieve higher scores in the game, but also to gradually get used to a more sustainable lifestyle. With a few simple steps you can already help to counteract the deforestation of the rainforest and the waste of our planet or to save large amounts of CO2. You are wondering how?

Then get Loodus on your smartphone and find out how you can become a better version of yourself! We will help you break down exactly which individual contribution you can make!  🌍 🔥🌴

[leval-studios]

this is our mindmap about the learning outcome from Loodus

[leval-studios]

hey this is our character design moodboard for our game :) 

[leval-studios]

All good things come in threes

we want to lay down our 3 game genres for you:

1. adventure game (short: ag)

a game in which the player is a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration

it is designed for a single player, since this emphasis on story and character makes multiplayer design difficult

ag’s are largely story-driven

ag’s include storytelling, exploration, and puzzle solving

ag’s contain a variety of puzzles, decoding messages, finding and using items, opening locked doors, or finding and exploring new locations

solving a puzzle will unlock access to new areas in the game world, and reveal more of the game story

ag’s are driven by storytelling, character development usually follows literary conventions of personal and emotional growth

the primary goal is the completion of the assigned quest

failure means player’s death

[leval-studios]

2.strategy game (short:sg)

focuses on skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory

it contains strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges

many games also offer economic challenges and exploration

many games also offer economic challenges and exploration

Victory is achieved through superior planning

sg’s  often involve other economic challenges - these can include building construction, population maintenance,and resource management

[leval-studios]

3. role playing game (short: rpg)

the players explores a game world

the player controls the actions of a character in some well-defined world

ttain victory by completing a series of quests or reaching the conclusion of a central storyline

characters grow in power and abilities

the games is divided into a number of quests

rpg’s  rely on a highly developed story and setting

they typically attempt to offer more more complex and dynamic character interaction than found in other game genres

players will walk through, talking to non-player characters, picking up objects, and avoiding traps

the game's story is often mapped onto exploration, where each chapter of the story is mapped onto a different location

players must acquire enough power to overcome a major challenge in order to progress to the next area

[leval-studios]

loodus

estonian: nature; the natural world noun

We chose it as the name for our game because it represents what the game is focusing on: our planet earth, nature and keeping nature in our minds, respecting mother nature and learning how to do so.

 🌎🌱🍃

[leval-studios]

personas

Thomas, 37

Thomas is restless, hard-working and always busy. He’s constantly on one of his electronic devices. Either working, connecting, chatting, calling, making appointments or face-timing and skyping. Even at home, he’s a digital fanatic and enjoys working overtime to learn more and you will always find Thomas hustling hard. But recently he noticed that his daily life includes a lot of speed, pressure and stress. A day includes lots and lots of to-go coffee-cups, food orders and business-trips by plane and car. He lives in a mega city, Hamburg, lives in a big flat and buys fancy suits and equipment and gadgets whenever he feels like it. Thomas enjoys his lifestyle although he has been feeling like it has been developing into a different direction than he wanted it to. Slowly he realized that many things didn’t fulfill him as much anymore. It shocked Thomas how he managed his expenses and that his work, his money and career had taken over his life completely. So he became more and more media-consuming, read and informed himself, absorbing all kinds of stuff about being more self- and nature-conscious. That was when he came across loodus, a game he now enjoys playing and makes him feel like his screen time is not invested in the wrong things anymore. Thomas started feeling less stressed, started meditating and riding his bike. In the evenings he works out to manage a healthier approach for his balance between his career and private life. He also spends more time with family and friends now, also showing them loodus, because it changed him ever since he started playing the game.

[leval-studios]

personas

Maria, 24

If one had to describe Maria in 3 words, they would probably be adventurous, ambitious and enjoyable. When she's not editing videos or editing photos, she's out and about somewhere - whether it's a city tour in New York, a hike in the Alps or just a trip to her favourite pub - Maria is with you everywhere.

As a master student for media design, Maria, who was born in Graz, loves to capture and share the impressions she collects on her travels with the help of photos or videos. She is very active on various social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube - so she has already created a respectable portfolio. In order to earn some money besides her studies, Maria takes care of the online presence of a second hand shop in Graz. Among other things, this job has awakened Maria's interest in a more conscious, sustainable life. Step by step she tries to change little things in her everyday life. For example, she has reduced her consumer behaviour, buys locally and tries to avoid plastic by switching to solid shampoo and detergent. In Maria's case, her hectic everyday life and her very alert nature meet each other, which is why she too needs a break from everything in between and simply enjoys sitting in her bathtub with a glass of wine. She is not completely restless, however, which is why she can't put her smartphone down and play loodus on it for complete relaxation.

[leval-studios]

loodus

become a better version of yourself

loodus is a combined strategy, adventure and role-play game, where the goal is to make the world a cleaner, better place and the playing person is repeatedly put into positions and situations where s*he can decide about actions and happenings throughout the game. The idea behind our game is to let the playing person be in a position to change the world in several missions. The learning outcome is that the player acquires different, maybe critical views of the world and our planet by strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges.

We want to reach out to each and everyone who feel like they can be a better person by changing some of their habits - starting small, with our game.

here you can see a mindmap we created with our findings as a group. Team work, lots of talks and brainstorming. Leval up! 

[leval-studios]

Hey, this is

Andy. What I like is art, photography, graphic design and apart from that, different kinds of sports. Coffee and wine is essential and I never mind having good food either. Networked-thinking, resilience, versatility and working efficiently are strengths of mine. I will take over the part of creating visuals, make characters, editorial and environmental designs, do concept development research, graphics and art. About me: I only have and wear white socks, I read every newspaper starting from its end and I only eat whole peanuts. :)

[leval-studios]

heyo, I’m

Emma. Sketching, overthinking & drinking tea is my perfect routine. Apart from watching cute animations and animal videos, creating cool stuff and coming up with new ideas are my favourite things to do. In this start-up I do sketching, visualizing, animations, writing and -as most people know me- lots of talking ;)

[leval-studios]

hi there, I’m

Laura. I’m passionate about typography, color themes and branding, therefore my responsibilities for the game development lie in layouting, branding and animating the character and environment. During our breaks you will find me cuddling with my cat or watching trashy tv shows. I also really enjoy doing all kinds of sports, reading some good novels and cooking Italian food :-)

[leval-studios]

hey, i am

Verena. As coffee and beer addict, I always enjoy being around people. If you don't find me writing on my laptop, you'll surely meet me at the Kaiser’s in Graz with a beer in my hand. As in this start-up, I work mostly in the textual field: copy writing and concept development are my passions

[leval-studios]

group rules

hey, these are our group rules:

1. we are always honest with each other and work transparently

2. we split work equally

3. we try to help each other out, if anyone needs support

4. everybody has to get done the same amount of work

5. our tasks, achievements and work is available online at any time

6. if barriers appear that hinder us in our workflow, coffee breaks are likely to be made