Level 1 - Into the Inbetween

Level 1 is the intro to the game. as the player walks to the gate they run into a fire spirit. The fire spirit gets scared and runs away into a lantern. the new light leaves a narrow gap of shadow for the player to walk through. this is intentional to cause the player to walk into the light, thus teaching them that the light is harmful.

I wanted to teach the player in this level that the fir spirits live inside the lanterns and that the player can die in the light.

Level 2 - Locked Out

Level 2 teaches the player that they can pick up blocks and move them around to pressure plates to raise columns. as the player progresses towards the gate they are blocked by a large stone hand and must use blocks and pressure plates to raise the hand and get the soul fragment. there are also two optional collectables that challenge the player on exploration and use of learned mechanics. Just before the gate the player comes across a soul fragment. I wanted a simple tutorial that increases in complexity over the level

Level 3 - Statues of Anger

Level 3 teaches the player they can move statues using the sundial. they will have to maneuver the statues to carry a block across the other side to reach a new sundal to clear a path to the soul fragment. I wanted players to learn they need to explore their environment and look for the purple emissive objects to help them progress. The optional collectables in this level teach the player to explore the environment more as well as that the player can jump on the large lily pads.

Level 4 - The School

Level 4 the player walks into a school like area and hears 3 bells ring, as they ring doors open up and fire spirits start running around. The player must find the switches to lower the bells and then ring the bells in the same order to send the fire spirits back to class. I wanted to teach the player about the upcoming sequence puzzles in a musical way. The three notes used to solve this puzzle are also a reoccuring chord progression in the games music.

Level 5 - Looming Threat

In this puzzle the player is blocked from the soul fragment by a fire spirit. They can send a lantern over to capture it but first they need to figure out how to get it on the zipline hook.

This puzzle I used an airlock mechanic to force the player to use two blocks in tandem to bring one block back.

Level 6 - The Treehouse

The player comes across a tree house with a soul fragment at the top. the player must solve sequence puzzles to lower bridges and make their way up the tree house.

The first sequence is more of a tutorial for the others. to solve the more advanced ones the player must match the blinking lanterns to the button patterns. there are also two platforming challenges to get the optional pickups.

Level 7 - The Ascent

In the final puzzle the player is faced with a massive stone head they must solve puzzles on either side to unlock the final stone moving puzzle and gain access to the fragment. When the player does they become whole again and are able to stand in the light.

This final puzzle I wanted to incorporate everything the player has learned so far. Everything from moving blocks, moving light, sequence puzzles, and rotating statues.