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⋆°. Intro & Game Overview... ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
- "Just Clumsy" is a pixilated game wherein you are a florist by day, and a werewolf by night. Well, every 29th night at least. The game consists of growing your plants, securing your nursery to reduce the damage of your rampage during the full moon, digging up hidden seeds as a werewolf, and trading with townsfolk (some of whom you have secrets of their own). And of course, any time someone asks about the damage you’ve been unable to fix before opening you’re excuse is that you are “just clumsy” which... 100% excuses the claw marks on the wall.
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Just Clumsy is primarily point and click with WASD to move using mouse and keyboard, utilizing a mixture of farming simulator and visual novel gameplay. During full moons, there is a percentage chance at triggering a quick time event which involves rapid key-pressing. Other than that, most of the game is meant to go at the player’s pace. The primary mechanic is planting, maintaining, and harvesting/trading plants and seeds to your fellow townsfolk. As the game progresses the player will have the opportunity to collect and breed rarer plants, and learn more about the NPCs by raising their relationship status.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Full Moon: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
One other key facet of this game is the full moon nights, and clean up after. Every 29 in-game days there is a full moon which triggers the player character’s werewolf transformation. There are items that allow the player character to prepare for full moons, ways to secure pots, nail down cash register, protect the floor and walls, etc. The amount of damage you must clean up after these transformations can be mitigated by preparing beforehand. However, you have to make sure you clean up just as quick as well! The townsfolk will start to get suspicious, and although many will accept your excuse of clumsiness, the longer it goes on the more likely you are to run into trouble.
The Full Moon isn't all bad though! In the midst of juggling your business, personal relationships, and the secret of your alternate form, you also are uniquely able to find new and rare seeds with your canine nose! During the Full Moon you will always be rewarded with a seed, with a percentage change of getting a rare, or otherwise unobtainable, seed to add to your nursery!
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Complexity & Keeping Secrets: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Just Clumsy will ramp slowly in both complexity and efficiency of gameplay via the collection of in-game items rather than player character level ups or bonuses. For example, items such as “automatic mister” can make certain areas of plants grow without manual watering, or “mysterious fertilizer” which gives a chance at any plant to grow in the accompanying pot regardless of used seed which could produce rarer plants for special townsfolk-trades and upgrades.
While automation and higher relationship status with traders will make the game easier, new challenges will present themselves the further the player progresses in various plot lines. If a player fails to mitigate the townsfolk suspicion of them, eventually "Hunters" will move in searching for whatever creature is afoot. They will make the player's day to day gameplay more challenging, but also open up unique plot lines with certain townsfolk that have secrets of their own they're trying to hide...
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⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Setting: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Just Clumsy is set in a modern day rural town. Current technology is referenced and somewhat available, however the majority of the aesthetics revolve more around the day to day life or the townsfolk in this small and mostly isolated town.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Story Progression: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
The game functions as a sort of choose your own adventure, while certain plot points regarding the player character’s story, and the development of relationships with other townsfolk, the majority of the game grows and changes depending on the actions of the player.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Characters: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Just Clumsy features a myriad of different characters and personality archetypes. While some more minor characters are "what you see if what you get" sort of characters, others have depth that you must progress further in the game to even get a hint of.
While there are standard routes their stories will take, several more important NPCs can have different endings depending on the time invested into their narrative by the player. Currently none of the NPC relationship paths develop into romance, instead focusing on deep friendships and platonic love. However, there are discussions of perhaps releasing a valentines addition after the game's full release that will allow for some date & romance scenes with other townsfolk.
Player Character ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
xxxxxxxxThe character you play, default name "Bee" after "Beowulf" is a semi-customizable player character. You can choose name, gender,
xxxxxxxxpronouns, and earn accessories & alternate outfits, however Bee's story is mostly set in stone. While Bee is not a silent
xxxxxxxxprotagonist, their personality is left largely ambiguous aside from a few key character traits. They are passionate, they love
xxxxxxxxplants, and they want to live a (mostly) normal life.
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Our aim for the aesthetics of Just Clumsy is to mix Cozy and Comedy. Scenery is colorful but within unified pallets, with cozy architecture & a clean but softened mostly pixilated style, with illustrated character portraits for certain scenes and dialogue. The general setting being a small forest town, much of the aesthetics is plant-based with attention to detail (ie moss growing on cobble, or daisies out of wooden floor boards). The game is meant to give the impression of being interwoven with the natural environment, while not being completely overrun by it.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ User Interface layout: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Subject to change in playtesting, our current vision is a UI located on the top and left hand side of the screen consisting of bars stylized as a wooden background with individual UI elements as icons within. Movement is point and click, so there will not be any movement elements on the UI, instead primarily being devoted to Inventory, Journal (where uncovered lore about townsfolk, and botany information is documented in separate tabs), Active Quests & Orders, and possibly more. We are also looking to make it semi-customizable, with four slots which can be filled by right clicking a given game element and adding it manually. For example if the user is waiting for a specific plant to grow, but is occupied in the rest of the town, they would be able to add that plant to the side of their screen to receive updates on it.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Sound Design: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
The majority of Just Clumsy's backing track would be considered low-fi, with subtly overlaid noises according to environment changes. There will also be an option to toggle both music, scenic overlay, and additional sound effects as desired. During the game you may unlock different tracks to use within your shop in styles more distinct and varied from the game's default sound track.
Just Clumsy is meant to be a comedic play on a farming simulator and werewolf tropes. For example the visuals and sound effects of the "digging" aspect on full-moons is meant to harken to some sort of werewolf attack scene with grunts, growls, and panting in a dark forest, only to be rewarded with a new seed for your nursery.
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⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Budget: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
We are generously aiming for a twenty-one person team, with a one million dollar primarily crowd funded budget. With no big game studio backing us, we may not have the abundance of resources of some but we have the passion to make this a game people will love. Our estimated breakdown of team management is as follows, however we aim to have individuals that are able to help in multiple aspects as needed.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Team: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Project Leader: One
Game & Narrative Designer(s): Three
Programmer(s) & Technical Programmer(s): Six
Sound Engineer(s): Two
Game Artist(s) & Animator(s): Seven
Game Tester(s): Two
{My game design knowledge is limited, so I have referenced this for a
general idea of a game development timeline and adjusted accordingly!}
Project Leader: One
Game & Narrative Designer(s): Three
Programmer(s) & Technical Programmer(s): Six
Sound Engineer(s): Two
Game Artist(s) & Animator(s): Seven
Game Tester(s): Two
{My game design knowledge is limited, so I have referenced this for a
general idea of a game development timeline and adjusted accordingly!}
- ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ Development Timeline: ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Development timeline based on start date: 12/14/24
12/14/24 - 02/15/25: Inspiration & Creation of Design Document
02/16/25 - 05/15/25: Conceptualization & Budget/Timeline Adjustments
(dates from here subject to change according to what is deemed best in the conceptualization phase.)
06/01/25 - 10/01/25: Initial Prototype Runs
10/01/25 - 11/01/25: Finalization of First Playable Prototype
11/01/25 - 01/01/26: Blueprint and Architecture Development
01/02/26 - 04/02/26: Tool & Asset Creation
04/03/26 - 06/01/27: Game Assembly
06/10/27 - 09/10/27: Final Playtest & Review
02/10/28: Game Release!
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