The Broken Tower

The Broken Tower features three distinct levels where the objective is to collect all the items in each level as Bran Stark, who is on his way to the broken tower to feed the crows!

This game was inspired by A Game of Thrones, the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, specifically the second Bran chapter (pages 65-71 in Bantam Book hardback edition). In this chapter, Bran ponders the notion that his family is to leave “...the only home he has ever known,” prompting him to explore Winterfell for one last time. He first wonders through the castle and then to the stables, saying his goodbyes to the friends he would leave behind. These visits bring him no solace, however, so he ventures to the godswood in solitude. First he tries to teach his direwolf tricks, but this does not cure his sadness. He then decides to climb, a favorite pastime of his, to find his joy once more. This is where our game begins.

In Level 1, Bran’s objective is to collect all of the tree seeds, which he will ultimately use to feed the crows. His in-game character has no shoes, as it states in the book that Bran likes to climb barefooted. His outfit is based off of Bran’s costume in Season 1, Episode 1 “Winter Is Coming”, the episode where this chapter is represented. In the show, he is age 10, while in the book he is age 7, so his height is actually based off of the average height of a 7-year old (121 cm). We see his direwolf, who at this point in the story has no name. In the book, his direwolf howls as Bran climbs the tree. The tree itself is a weirwood (a tree with a face) within the godswood (a wooden sanctuary). Bran likes to climb this tree in particular, because as it states in the book, it allows him to climb onto roofs.

In Level 2, Bran’s objective is to maneuver through the maze of roofs, collecting all of the House Stark sigils. This sigil is the representation of Winterfell, so this collectible was purposefully chosen for this level since Bran actually explores Winterfell. The book describes how Bran loves to perch on the roofs, where he can be invisible and hear conversations as if he were a fly on a wall. In the future, we would populate the scene with crowds and various architecture, but for now, the buildings are houses, based upon the Winterfell houses we see in Game of Thrones. The weirwood and the broken tower spire are on opposite sides of the map as the houses are in between these locations according to the descriptions in the book. In order for Bran to get to the broken tower in a safe way, he must use the rooftops.

In Level 3, Bran’s objective is to climb the tower and collect all of the feathers. Crows rest in the cracks of and on top of the spire, hence the feathers, and the reason why Bran likes to climb this tower is so he can feed the crows. This is why he collected the bird seed in Level 1, why he traversed the rooftops in Level 2, and why he is climbing the tower in this level. 

His objective, however, changes when he starts hearing noises. In the book, he hears these noises from a window down below, but in the show, he hears these noises from up above. Due to level design choices, we decided to use the show for inspiration rather than the book. When Bran ultimately makes it to the window, a cut-scene of the show plays. Bran hears more conversation in the book than what is represented in the show, but the outcome is still the same.

The cut-scene was edited with wrestling gifs. This creative choice acts as a way to both censor the adult content and emphasize the idea that Bran innocently thinks the Lannisters are wrestling with one another. Our game ends when Bran is pushed out the window. 

Between each level, there are transition menus featuring quotes from the chapter. The quote that comes up after the cut-scene is the last sentence in the chapter. The UI in these menus feature medievalist iconography such as a sword.

The music is the Game of Thrones theme, adding in a level of immersion, in the style of 8-bit, paying homage to the concept of a game itself.

This game was created as a final project for a class in medievalisms, where we studied Tolkein to GoT.

Maya, Unity, and Photoshop were utilized.

Created by Malcolm Bornmann and Austin Abrams