Dujanah Progress

Tricky times have been afoot. Late twenties is a funny old age, there is a certain shedding of the joyful frivolities of early twenties as another school peer dies and or another family member gets a fatal disease and that feeling of immortality just scarpers like it was never there.

But things pass.

I've been making a game inside a game for Dujanah. A game where the protagonist is still the same but everything else is different. I have really fallen in love with this idea as it allows NPCs to comment on the game inside the game. I'm deeply fond of post-modern literature, as most late twenties folk are, and this game inside a game is a fun way to convey something of the self-referential aspects of the piece.

The game inside the game is called The Caves of Al Dajjal. One path of the Dujanah  narrative is the dumb, obvious one of seeking revenge through retribution. To complete this path you have to play the game The Caves of Al Dajjal. Dajjal is a somewhat mythical anti-Christ figure in Islam, take from that what you will. I think that players who want this type of narrative from a piece will enjoy the more reflex-focused type of game that The Caves of Al Dajjal allows for.

It is a game in the same vein as Axiom Verge and Metroid with platforming and shooting and exploring and bosses and all that nonsense. It takes me about 15-20 mins to complete but I know where to go and all the tricks for the bosses. I worry that it might be a bit too difficult but I am not the best at video games and it will be entirely extraneous to the deeper themes of the game. I have to say, I'm quite happy with how it has turned out and I am now feeling inclined to make a second mini-game inside the game. Keep well and merry