Can “Juka” Stop the Villagers from Performing a Deadly Disappearing Act?

by Louis Bedigian

“It means that we have a pretty huge game on our hands. Basically, if you break down every level in the game, and there are about 200 levels.”

Alchemists have the hardest life.  Some have fake limbs, some are made of metal.  Some spend their lives coming up with dangerous preservatives for new snack foods.  Or is it a chemist who does that?  If so, how can he fill the bag of Chex Mix without any limbs?

Whether chemist or Alchemist or something in between, living this life is no piece of cake.  (Oooooh, cake!  That sounds good.)  Just look at the life Juka, star of Juka and the Monophonic Menace (due out August 25th), has been living.  Once living in peace and harmony, Juka’s happiness is lost when local villages start to disappear. 

You can’t tell from the shot, but this land was once greatly populated. 

My gamer senses are tingling.  Juka looks and sounds like something your little brother might play, but my senses tell a much different story.  They’re telling me that if I look deeper I’ll discover a game that isn’t limited by childishness.  Let’s see if I’m correct.

Juka looks like a kiddy game, but further inspection reveals a title that's so much deeper.  Is there a reason why you've masked this game (that has huge potential) in a family-friendly coating?

Nicholas Hutcheon, Junior Designer: That's an interesting question. I think that our main designer, Rob Adams, wanted to prove that a game could be made that's family-friendly yet deep and entertaining. When it comes down to it, though, we were creating a game that is geared towards a younger demographic. We wanted to make a "kid's first adventure game."

Rob Adams, Lead Designer: The original idea for the game is "adventure game" that any new player could pick up and not feel they needed to know how to play adventure games. I am not sure I wanted to "prove" anything, beyond Orbital Media makes quality games for all ages.

Let's get into the best part: the gameplay.  There's a lot for us to talk about, so let's start with the basics.

NH: Well, there are a few areas where the gameplay in the game is focused. The most primary examples are the collection and exploration elements. The player will also have to gather various ingredients in order to make the potions they'll need to get around various obstacles. There are plenty of characters to interact with in the game, and lots of small quests and mini-games to play.

Describe the combat system.  It's said to be intense, innovative and pattern based.  Could you explain this?

NH: The best analogy I can make for it is "puzzle tennis." Basically, it's a projectile-based system that involves catching a particular sequence of projectiles using Juka's Sound Shield. Each enemy requires a different pattern of shots to be collected in order to defeat them, and they fire out different patterns of projectiles as well.

RA: Also with the system we allow the player to move around the level freely as the combat takes place, which adds the frenzy combat feeling. Players can hide behind objects to stop shots or grab objects to drag around and use as a shield. Nick was handed the job of balancing and setting up this system, it worked out extremely well.  

I think this is how The Chronicles of Narnia got started. 

How do you fight your enemies in this game?  Do you have magical powers?

NH: Juka is an Alchemist. He has two main weapons at his disposal to deal with enemies. The first is the Sound Staff, a piece of Ancient technology that allows him to absorb and re-channel sound projectiles fired at him by his enemies. The second is the array of potions that he can make to blind, slow, or freeze his enemies in time.

RA: Because this is an adventure game you don't get everything at the start, the systems evolve as the player moves through the game.

Speaking of enemies, what kinds of beasts will you have to take down?  Or are they something of a different nature – an evil sorcerer, perhaps?

NH: Well, the main villain in the game is named the Monophonic Menace. He's an Alchemist like Juka, but much more powerful. He also commands a robot army of Menace Machines that he has built to achieve his goal of dominating the world of Obla. He has protected his minions with an Alchemical power called the Monophonic Spell, which creates an Alchemy-proof shield around them. Juka will have to figure out a way to neutralize the Monophonic Spell before he can deal with the Menace.

RA: Without giving much away, later in the game Juka is able to change up his strategy when dealing with enemies. This adds a new dynamic to the game, because how the player managed inventory in the first part of the game will affect events later on. Again when designing with a younger player in mind, we wanted to make sure that no matter how you play the game you can finish it.   

Mini-games are a big part of the gameplay experience.  How many are there, and what do they involve?  What makes them a "mini" game?

NH: The Yetis run all the mini-games. Each game has a time limit, and each one focuses on different aspects of the game. One involves sliding across an icy pond and catching fish as they spring through the holes while another one sees Juka dragging a Treasure Chest across an obstacle course like section of the Menace's factory.

RA: They are mini-games but you have to play them and get the rewards in order to keep moving a head. This was the one thing in the design process that changed a couple times; are these games optional? In the end it came down to whom we were targeting as our core audience.

Juka has an upgrade system and we'd love to hear all about it.

NH: Over the course of the game, Juka can acquire several power ups. First, he needs to find the recipes for various potions throughout the world so he can increase his repertoire. There are also magical instruments he'll need to collect in order to create ingredients in areas where they're hard to find. These instruments also do something special when they're all brought together. But the optional upgrades that he can find are pieces of Sound Crystal that he can add to his staff to make his Sound Shield stronger as well as ingredient jars that will allow him to hold a bigger stockpile. 

A spaceship?  In the middle of nowhere?  If only John Locke were here to open the hatch. 

Does Juka have a growth / experience point system of any kind?

NH: Nothing as abstract as that. We really wanted to create something that would be as friendly as possible to a new gamer. In many ways, the upgrade system resembles something you might see in a Legend of Zelda game, where you can collect items that will make your character more powerful and make it easier to deal with some of the tougher enemies in the game, especially the bosses.

Juka promises more than 2,500 screens of gameplay…what does that mean exactly?

NH: It means that we have a pretty huge game on our hands. Basically, if you break down every level in the game, and there are about 200 levels. Then, break each level into number of screens there are between 50-100 we actually have more than 10,000 screens of gameplay. Compare this to other games out there that typically have about 400. So it's a very big game, we even put it on a 128MB cartridge!

Very impressive.  Could you tell us about the different locations you'll visit?

NH: Juka will begin his quest in the Ruins, the remains of an Ancient city that he'll revisit much later in the game. After a short tutorial there, he'll return to the meadows, a lush, green environment full of plants and animals. He'll travel to the Village, where he'll find out about a recent disaster from the villagers, and that sets him on his quest. From there he'll journey to mountainous cliffs, ice covered plains of snow, and finally to the old Castle where the Menace has built his machine factory.

What's the Potion Mixer all about?

NH: The Potion Mixer is where Juka can combine the different ingredients that he's gathered throughout his travels. He then mixes these to create potions that allow him to activate ancient machinery, move rock walls, or unlock doors and devices. He has to learn each recipe for potions as he goes through the game, and the more recipes he learns, the more options he'll have for interacting with the world around him.

Tell us about the instruments.  Do you actually play music in the game?

NH: That would be a cool effect, but we were worried about how we could make a custom music system that would be easy enough for young gamers to pick up on. So there are instruments that play music in the game, but the tune they play is a pre-set one. The instruments themselves have a different effect as well, though. By playing them, Juka can create ingredients by using up power from his Sound Shield. This is vital in areas where certain kinds of ingredients are rare or hard to find.

What is the purpose of the jars?  Why are there so many different ones?

NH: Each jar that Juka collects allows him to hold a different ingredient. With the first jar, he can only hold 50 of that kind of ingredient, but a large jar of each color can be found that will allow him to hold up to 99. It's very useful to stock up on the ingredients you find all over the place in an area, because they might be hard to find in the next one. 

Gulp... 

When do the Ruin Keys come into play?  Are they a big part of the quest?

NH: There is a huge Door in the meadow that was built by the Ancients, an old civilization that died out long before Juka's people showed up in Obla. It was locked by four keys representing the primal elements of nature; Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. These keys were scattered throughout Obla, and Juka will need to collect all four if he wants to get through the Door and into the ruins of the Ancient city beyond.

Thanks for your time guys.