ROOK is a Jump'n'Run/Adventure Sidescroller game about two children that have been left by the whole world and take their fate into their own hand.
Shortly before his coronation, 12-year old Ed stays with his younger brother Rick in the Tower of London, until he falls victim to an intrigue one night and is murdered by strangers. Rick, warned by finding the lifeless body, sets off to escape the Tower. But he is not alone: The ghost of his brother follows his every step. Together they are trying to find a way out of the Tower...and who the murderer is.
Based on a true story of the "Princes in the Tower".
ROOK was created as my bachelor project for MSD Münster School of Design over the course of 3 months. The full documentation on the project in German language can be viewed here.
Blonde hair, dark clothing.
The character designs are based on a painting by John Everett Millais. The brothers are supposed to look similiar to each other yet distinctive.
"Rook" is both the English term for the tower piece in chess and also for a kind of crow.
The Tower of London is full of ravens, that are just like the princes trapped.
For centuries, their wings have been clipped due to the believe England will go under if the ravens will ever fly away.
There are 7 ravens hidden in the game. Who can find them all, might lift a secret...
The game route, too, is based on a real map of the Tower of London.
Each building section is a level on its own, starting from the Garden Tower to the central point, the White Tower.
The princes have to use their different abilities to escape the Tower together.
Left behind by the humans, Rick finds comfort in his little treasures.
As he progresses through the game, he finds different toys that grand him new abilities and let him solve new puzzles.
Death is not the end, but holds new possibilities.
As a ghost, Ed has insight into a whole new world...the world of the dead.
