Ars Poetica is a poetry-themed narrative-focused escape-room puzzle game.

Think "Zorg meets Dear Esther" - story-focused, vanguardist in its puzzle design, but rooted in the genre of the text adventure, merging the best of old-school and contemporary game design.

A World War II soldier gets injured in battle. In his journey back home he's killed by a bombshell - and in this split second, between life and death, he must now find peace, remember who he is, and decide what he wants to be.

The game follows a journey into the soul, taking place in the protagonist's mindscape - an afterlife of sorts, or maybe a personal hell - and in this journey, as he tries to remember and judge his own person, he will have to choose between his former self and a newer self: if he deserves to come home, to come back to life as himself, or if he'll be reborn into a new person, reincarnate as his soon-to-born son.

This is a story about two wars - an external, historic world war - and a personal, internal war, about self-doubt and atonement.

This soul-searching conflict will be fought by reading poetry - poetry in Ars Poetica is both subtext and literal text - it's through poetry that the protagonist will find peace, as poetry in this game is both a metaphor for the human spirit and the core gameplay element.

Credits:
David Filipe - Art  & Code
Isaque Sanches - Code
Joao Costa - Audio
Joao Eiras Antunes - Code
Tiago Marques - Game Design & Art

Original concept made for GGJ19