Narrative-Centered Game

Designer Statement — Echoes Beneath the Mountain

Echoes Beneath the Mountain is a narrative-driven adventure built in Ren’Py that invites players to confront three elemental “wounds” inflicted on the natural world: deforestation, river pollution, and air contamination. Inspired by environmental folklore and side-quest structure, the game’s core aim is to transform abstract eco-crises into emotionally resonant, choice-based encounters that foreground consequence, accountability, and hope.

Vision

Our guiding question was: “How can interactive fiction help players feel the weight—and the possibility—of environmental stewardship?” To answer it we designed a mythic cavern where past, present, and future overlap. The player’s reflection morphing into a prehistoric tool-maker symbolizes humanity’s long continuum of impact. Healing each wound becomes both literal restoration and a meditation on generational responsibility.

Mechanics & Narrative Synergy

Each quest line—Crimson Leaves, Weeping Current, and Choking Horizon—follows a three-scene arc with branching menus. Choices modify hidden health variables; cumulative scores determine whether the realm is “healed” and unlock one of two endings. This lightweight RPG structure ensures that every dialog option carries measurable ecological weight while remaining accessible to visual-novel audiences.

Learning & Impact

Though fictional, the crises mirror real historical inflection points—industrial dye mills, early coal cities, imperial logging—encouraging players to draw parallels to present-day sustainability challenges. A final “Ancestral Compass” epilogue links out to curated modern initiatives, nudging players from virtual action to tangible engagement.

Takeaway

Echoes positions the player not as an all-powerful savior but as a conscientious catalyst: small, thoughtful interventions compound into systemic change, while neglect perpetuates a cycle of decay. By blending branching narrative, visual symbolism, and transparent consequence tracking, the game strives to leave players with both a sense of accountability and an emboldened optimism that tomorrow’s dawn does indeed begin with them.