King of Cups

King of Cups is a short visual novel that follows the journey of a young boy's understanding into his thoughts and feelings surrounding the loss of his mother. This is explored through the medium of Tarot, transporting to the past, present and future. 

Play through the game as Ollie, a 12 year old boy, who has recently lost his mother and has moved into his grandfather’s house. Ollie is closed off and struggles to let his grandad in. A tarot reader helps Ollie to tap into his emotions, and to understand that he has the support and love that he longs for, already around him. After receiving a 4 card tarot spread, the player can choose how much to open up to the idea that everything in his life is connected. This choice will lead to 3 different endings, direct results of these decisions.

The initial inspiration for this project came from Look Inside. I was immediately drawn in by the clean interactable 2D elements that were used to drive the story. 

I found further inspiration from Assemble With Care. The narrative sections of this game utilised the simple UI to take players through the story. Marrying illustrations with dialogue to produce very visually pleasing panels.