Game Design

Rocket Enhancements..........................562

Miscellaneous ..............................563

Characters ...................................563

Atomic Sam................................563

Friends..................................564

Other Characters.............................564

Enemies .................................566

V. Story Overview.................................571

VI. Game Progression...............................572
Setting ...................................572
Introduction...................................573
Gargantuopolis.................................573
The Electric Priestess’ Bubble Home.....................574
Benthos ...................................574
Harmony ...................................575
New Boston...................................576
Return to the Electric Priestess’ Bubble Home ...............577
The Ikairus...................................577

VII. Bibliography ..................................578

I. Overview .................................

Atomic Samis an action game with a strong storytelling component. In it the player
controls Sam, a young boy separated from his parents, who must battle his way through
hostile environments and defeat the robots that try to prevent him from finding out
what happened to his mother and father. The game is one of quick reactions and clever
planning in a whimsical futuristic world, a setting that will appeal not only to children
but to game players of all ages who enjoy fast-action gameplay. The game is suitable for
any modern console system.
The player’s main task inAtomic Samwill be to navigate young Sam through the
various environments of the game while defeating the robots he encounters. Though
the game is centered around this combat, it is a non-violent game from start to finish,
with Sam incapacitating but not destroying the robots that try to stop him. Whenever
Sam is defeated, he is always stunned or trapped, never actually killed. The whimsical
and optimistic nature ofAtomic Samrequires that the game not play up any sort of
gore-factor and that violence be kept to an absolute minimum.
The game will reward the player’s creativity by setting up situations where the
player can use environmental objects to defeat the robots that come after him. Rube
Goldberg-esque contraptions will be everywhere, providing whimsical ways for Sam to
incapacitate the many mechanized adversaries he will face. Figuring out what to do in
different situations will be just as important as quick reactions and manual dexterity.

Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam 539