The Search For Milo
The Search For Milo is a point-and-click puzzle game. Play as Luna, a young girl whose only friend—her cat, Milo—has gone missing. Wander into the forest, search for clues, and solve puzzles to find Milo.
This game is special to me because it's my first point-and-click puzzle game, and also my first game as a solo developer. Every piece of dialogue, puzzle, artwork and line of code was created by me.
ROLE
Solo Project
DURATION
12 weeks (2021)
TEAM SIZE
1
TOOLS USED
Adventure Game Studio, Aseprite, Clip Studio Paint
Puzzle #1
The Locked House
There is an "abandoned" house in the woods. The entrance is locked, and all of the windows are sturdy but one.
Solution #1: find the key buried underneath a pile of dirt and unlock the door.
Solution #2: grab a sturdy rock and break the window.
Puzzle #2
The Secret Code
The door to the basement is sealed and the only way to unlock it is a particular phrase.
Solution: The player must find 3 pieces of paper scattered in the woods/abandoned house to find particular parts of the phrase. They must then repeat the phrase in the correct order to get the door to open.
Puzzle #3
Lights Out!
The basement is pitch-black and you can't find the light switch.
Solution: Find a flashlight and batteries hidden upstairs, and the player can use it to find the light switch and turn the light on.
Problem #1
Through playtesting, I realized that the door code was too unclear, as many people had never heard of the particular phrase. This created frustrating trial and error because there was no strategic way to get through the second puzzle.
Solution
I changed the order of the paper in the game so the player picks up the code in the designated order they discover the papers, and each paper is labeled with the pickup order in the inventory.
Problem #2
I found that a few playtesters got stuck on the way to the final puzzle; they didn't realize that the flashlight had no batteries, and did not see the batteries on the table on the first floor.
Solution
I forced the player character back to the first floor if they tried to progress without a working flashlight, to try and guide them to keep exploring til they discovered the batteries. I also added a hint for the inventory description of the flashlight.