Game Idea: Legends of Mesoamerica

Hello everyone!

Today I want to talk about an idea that I will propose for my capstone project to be done for my post-graduate. Ancient civilizations have always got my attention, and I love games that has a story surrounding different mythologies and legends. However, most of these are of Greek, European or North-American origin and I haven’t seen one that presents mythologies from Mesoamerica, therefore my idea is to create a game that presents a story based on the Maya and Aztec civilizations.

First Idea

The game could be based on legends from Mayan and Aztec civilizations. One of these being the legend of Quetzalcoatl. I have seen the name presented in multiple games, and most of the times belongs to an ancient beast but in reality they do not represent Quetzalcoatl or his origin.

The Legend of Quetzalcoatl

The Aztec mythology presents Quetzalcoatl as a creator, a leader and savior. He is son of the god Tonacatecuhtli and takes the mission of fulfilling his father’s desire: the creation of man. However, before Quetzalcoaltl creates man along his 3 brothers, he must face multiple obstacles and beasts such as Cipactli.

In the game, the player would take control over Quetzalcoatl and explore the world before the creation of men. I believe that the story would be interesting to be presented within a game, and the challenges that Quetzalcoatl faced would also be included!

The Legend of Hun Hunahpu and Ixbalanque

The Pupul Vuh, also known as the book of the community by the Quiche tribe in Guatemala, presents the legend of the twin gods. Their story also presents the origin of the Mayan ball game, however including it into a game might result a little challenging because of the mechanics that would need to be implemented but it is not impossible.

The legend tells that the twins were summoned by the Lords of Xibalba (the mayan underworld), and that they had to pass multiple challenge in order to defeat them. The reason of their summoning was because the lords were annoyed when the twins were playing ball, which I think is kind of funny but that could also be included into the story in a different context.

In order to defeat them, they had to pass challenges like the house of the stalignites, or the house of the jaguar and the bat house. Each of these which were deadly. I believe that these could also be presented in a game environment where the player would use the abilities of one of the twins in order to succeed every challenge.

Alternative Idea

I believe that there’s a lot of content that could be explored in a game. The story could also follow the life of a Mayan warrior and his family. The warrior then would be sent far away from home and visit ancient cities of Mesoamerica in order to find the Mayan and Aztec gods. The warrior then would have to defeat every god in order to acquire a special power that would grant him immortality.

For now the idea is pretty generic, and kinda reminds me of Shadow of the Colossi at the same time. Symbolism and beliefs from the Maya and Aztec could also be presented in the game, which might require some research but I believe it would be appealing for many people.

Game Mechanics

I believe the idea could be explored in multiple ways. It could be done as a 3D exploration game or even as a platform game. For me the ideal would be the first one since it would be amazing if the player could set foot and explore ancient cities like Chichen Itza before the collapse.

Alright this is everything I got now. I will be presenting this idea in about two weeks and I would love to see it happen. I would appreciate your feedback on the matter so I can shape the idea a bit more! Leave your comment below!

Cheers! 🙂