Inspired by the immersive installation “On the other side of the Rabbit Hole” that has been delighting fans of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ at Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), and responding to the challenge launched by Fábrica das Artes, GameDev Técnico developed the video game “Do Outro Lado da Toca” (“On the other side of the Rabbit Hole”) which provides a challenging journey into the fantasy world created by Lewis Carroll in the 19th century.

Jorge Nunes, one of the students involved in the development of the video game, highlights, “it’s an adaptation of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, in which the young protagonist intends to save her friends from the domain of the Queen of Hearts”. To this end, the team created an adventure across 3 different levels: the Garden, in which Alice changes her size; the Tea Time, where she uses time bubbles and searches for Mad Hatter watch’s parts; and the Queen’s Palace, where she changes gravity and confronts the Queen.

“The game environment – illustrations, animations and sound design – transports players to a wonderland: the vibrant colours, the fantastic elements and the characters welcome players and make them interact with this world”, says Sofia Santos, student at the Faculty of Fine Arts and member of the game development team.

The three levels were progressively released between March and June this year. Each level has a unique gameplay, centred on a special power. Players acquire new powers as they unlock each level. After completing the story, players unlock the infinite mode, where they can beat their own records.

Sofia Santos points out “we wanted to create challenges for players who are already familiar with video games, and for those who are not. For the more experienced players there is an increase in intensity and speed passing the discovery phase, which is quite a challenge even for us”, says Sofia Santos.

The game is part of “Festa de Desaniversário”, a series of virtual events dedicated to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and her fellow adventurers, such as workshops, training sessions and philosophy cafés, following the social distancing measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The project was presented to us by Fábrica das Artes – the educational project at CCB – which encourages young artists and creators to explore their abilities”, says Diogo Rato, coordinator of Game Dev Técnico.

“We tried to create something new that could surprise the audience who were already familiar with this fairy tale, but where they could recognise and find some references to theatre plays”, stresses André Antunes. This video game is an opportunity to enter into Alice’s enchanting world for those who are unable to visit the physical installation at CCB.

The game development team was composed of 4 Técnico students – André Antunes, Diogo Rato, Jorge Nunes and Pedro Soares – and 3 students from the Faculty of Fine Arts -Ariana Parrilha, Renata Candeias and Sofia Santos, who worked in close collaboration with the artists and actors from Fábrica das Artes at CCB. The animation was carried out by artists responsible for the physical installation at CCB and the original music was created by Cuca Monga.

Renata Candeias highlights the most challenging parts of this project: “It was extremely challenging, especially when there isn’t exactly an animation background, and we have to respond to demands. We had the luck to have been monitored by the CCB team”.

The students had to reconcile the development of the game with the academic life, and with other projects they carry out at the same time. “Working for a year in a row, with weekly checkpoint meetings and reconciling academic life with other extracurricular activities and personal life, was really complicated”, highlights André Antunes. “We decided to meet once in a week to get feedback and set goals”, adds Jorge Nunes.

The effort has brought results: it’s free and available for Android and iOS systems. The “Festa de Desaniversário” lasts only until December, but the game “Do Outro Lado da Toca” (“On the other side of the Rabbit Hole”) will allow players to embark on Alice’s world and to (re)discover this fairy tale.