Before reading this rational, please visit this concept website to see what the game is about .
http://baranus.weebly.com/
Baransu is an Alternate Reality Game in which you use current technology to see the mystical world that we have known since birth, but lost. Your personal interests and passions call forth a Spirit of that domain, whom you shall journey with until those passions have been realized. This game is about the player balancing their interests in life. The generated character of the Spirit represents a part of the player’s personality, hobbies, and mortality. Our time and energy is limited, and the appropriation of it is the cause of great anxiety in life. As a society, we do not care for ourselves as much as we do others. We find it easer to give someone a gift or charity, but cannot accept it. By caring for these Spirits, the player cares for himself or herself without self-guilt. Finding a balanced life is a personal pursuit with no universal answer, but Baransu tries to be a gentle reminder in the Player’s life to care about themselves.
· The game exists to enrich the player’s life
· All action should serve to create a relationship between the player and Spirit
· The game space is both virtual and physical, public and private, individual and populous
Gameplay is very easy to understand but infinitely varied. Download the game on your phone or other mobile device with camera, GPS, and Internet. Input interests into app and get a starting population of 1-2 spirits. It will use your profile, relevant Internet presence, and location to suggest activities in the physical world for you to participate in. If a Player was interested in literature, the Spirit could suggest unvisited bookstores for the Player to explore or new reads that could fit into their time commitments. All of the activities should have intrinsic rewards (in-game) and extrinsic reward (out-of-game) because the Player/Spirit gain experience to grow, while the activity should enrich the Player’s real life either physically, mentally, or emotionally. As you engage in these interests and develop the relationships with the spirits, they will grow in size and personality. Ultimately, this growth will lead to the player having to prioritize different spirits based on their commitments in the physical world. Should a Spirit go neglected long enough, it will leave the Player permanently. A similar Spirit of the same interest may be gained later, but each Spirit is unique and every action has a consequence. Even though it is unpleasant to think about, we cannot love everything, let alone love it equally. Players will be confronted with the progression and allocation of their lives through this simple design.
The narrative of game is very minimal in set pieces, so it primarily relies on the Player’s imagination to create the story and conflict. As the Spirit is to represent the Player’s individual life, it would be inappropriate to heavily script and direct the gameplay. Instead the Player is simply tasted with maintaining a Spirit. Any meaning or relationship stemming from that is solely based on the Player’s involvement. What narrative that is there primarily functions as a mechanic. Teaming just beneath the surface of our everyday lives, there is magical world that embodies human society. This world is inhabited by Spirits, which are the avatar of a particular aspect of society. They exist in the physical spaces that are the catalyst for society and they are drawn the people that share a similar passion as they contain some of the same energy as the Spirits’ native environment. However, the Spirits need to spend time in their ecosystem to recover energy and use it to grow into more powerful incarnations. The more developed the Spirit, the more energy it requires to maintain. Should the Spirit grow too weak or powerful, it could leave the Player. A balance must be struck.
The relationship between the player and spirit is that of a pet on the surface, but the whole game is a deception of appearances. Though the player must care for the seemingly feeble and delicate spirits, the spirits are eternal. A person is transient entity that serves as a vehicle of progression for an abstract concept, culture. Each spirit is a small section of human culture and their growth is affected by the individual, but never dependent on nor subservient to. Yet, as individuals, we believe are in control. This is the underlying power dynamic of the player and spirit.
Just as Spirits populate the world, so to is it filled with Players. While an individual player is not required to interact with others, it is encouraged. Spirits of similar domains will naturally be drawn to one another, so players could by design or by chance team up. They would go about the activity just like they usually would, but have an opportunity to meet new meaningful relationships. Imagine the romanticized scene of taking your dog out for a walk and meeting another dog owner with a compatible personality. Engaging in multiplayer would enable the player to discover new spirits and find more means of feeding the existing spirit. It is through the cross pollination of interests that personal and cultural progress is made. This will be reflected appearance and personality of the spirit or it’s attitude towards the player. This creates a complex personal and social relationship with the player and the spirit, which is an embodiment of their passion, so it is potential tool for self-examination and exploration.
The inspiration behind all of this is that In my day-to-day life I find it very hard to find time to live my life to fullest. My studies and career have always come first. I cannot count the number of nights that I have spent staring at the ceiling praying that one day my efforts will pay off. I often think about the relationships between family and friends that I have let slip because I was too busy with school. Worst of all, I sometimes fee l like I’m losing connection with myself. Being so young I have only but a glimpse at the sacrifices a working professional adult must make. I want to combat this illness of the soul that causes this imbalance by reminding myself that I matter to me as a unique and limited individual experiencing this life.
