Games

Dyadin is an action game that explores the potential of cooperative play mechanics in a 2-player puzzle environment. The story of Dyadin involves two parallel worlds and two characters occupying these worlds but only able to affect objects in their own world and of their own color.

Each player sees the other as a ghostly form. Indeed, each player sees an alternate world passing through their own-they cannot directly affect it, but must act in harmony with their mysterious counterpart to do so.

The core mechanic involves negotiating the space between yourself and the other player; as the players move closer or farther apart, they change color, and gain or lose the ability to affect similarly colored objects in the space. As the players move towards each other, they will first turn blue, then green, then yellow. Objects in the worlds have one of these three colors, and the players must match a color to avoid traps, defeat antagonists, and ultimately escape.

Players must cooperate to make their way through a series of labyrinths, always using their relative distance to each other to harmonize and interact with various objects and enemies. The parallel nature of the two worlds means that each player's near term goal can be quite different: one player might find themselves working through a complex maze, while the other is simultaneously having to contend with a vast open area full of enemies.

In many ways this mechanic is the puzzle equivalent of a three-legged race, in that players must worry about events in their world while accommodating the goals of their counterpart. Direct competition will get both players nowhere, as both must reach the exit to complete the level.

The Dyadin crew is a cross-disciplinary team from the School of Cinematic Arts' Interactive Media Division and the School of Engineering. It has been selected as a winner of the student showcase at the 2005 Independent Game Festival and was also shown at the PoV: Alternative Games Exhibition at the 2005 DiGRA Conference.