Detours
"It’s time to move across the country, and the only person with a car is your ex-partner. Suck up your pride and play through your trip and relationship’s road bumps, obstacles, and detours."
Detours is a short narrative game where you play as Daniella, a girl journeying through the Midwest with her ex-partner Mish on an awkward road trip back to her childhood home.
When designing the colors of the game and characters, I drew directly from shades I would see in the sky at different times of day. The sky is often the backdrop of Detours, so I wanted the colors to match.
The initial sketches of our two protagonists were very similar to their final versions- especially Mish!
To emote in the game, the characters needed expression sheets.
And to move around when the car was stopped, Dani needed a walk cycle!
The interior of the car was separated into layers so that Mish and Dani's sprites could easily fit inside and look like they were really driving it. (Dani's frog tank was a separate layer too!)
...and also this header capsule...
...which utilized this pattern made of game assets.
...and the library capsule. All of these were necessary to make our steam page look and act the way it should.
The game's logo went through several iterations of detour signs combined with broken hearts, most of which just didn't have the right shape or vibes at all.
But finally, the team landed on the arrow through the spray-painted heart, a lovely representation of the heartbreak moving forward can cause.
"Detours is a thoughtful and moving game with deep characters and road trip vibes! I love it so much. You can tell a lot of love was put into making this story. Also the soundtrack is a JAM.Super recommend." -cesca on Steam
"A beautiful experience and meaningful game with clearly so much consideration for the narrative and characters. Within the first few clicks I was projecting hard and knew exactly who this would be in my life." -LaurenSMoses on Steam
"This is a work of pure art, I'm in love with this game holy smokes" -paris green on itch.io
"Cute story, lovely art!" -fragileseraph on itch.io
Producer: Kinsey Erickson
Writer: Samantha Ortiz
Code and Game Design: Autumn Rain
Illustration and Animation: Roscoe Rappaport
Music and Sound Design: Plum
UI Design: Autumn Rain, Roscoe Rappaport
