Suzaku (スザク)

The main issue was to try and replicate the strength mechanic, but I wanted it to provide more purpose than shifting an obstacle.
Therefore I created a system where blocks of ice are pushed into gaps to create pathways.
I created a dark environment, and incorporated Japanese style lanterns which the player needed to activate to progress and complete the level.
These also provided illumination to ease navigation.
I created a basic form of combat where the player throws their sword which acts like a boomerang, which could also be used to hit the ice blocks.

This game only had 1 enemy, which I developed with the difficulty of a boss but also simple enough for the player to defeat it, as this was their only opportunity for combat.
I decided to make it shoot icicles from the sky. This would spawn above the player's head, meaning they would have to quickly move out of the way.
Once the boss was defeated, the path would open allowing the player to finish the level.

The story for this game is the protagonist has discovered a cave and they must fight the Ice-Wraith that dwells there and escape.
As the main focus was on level design, I spent some time drawing up concepts of the level flow and the route that the player would have to take.
The ice blocks forming new paths needed to be obvious for the player to progress.
The most difficult part of this challenge was to make sure the solution was both easy to work out but also not too obvious.