Unveiling the Mysteries of an Uncharted Language in Ginger

The IGF (Independent Games Festival) aims to foster advancement in gaming trends and to acknowledge innovative game developers elevating the medium. This year, Game Developer conversed with the contenders for the IGF’s Nuovo Award and the Seamas McNally Grand Prize ahead of GDC to explore themes, make choices, and instruments in favor of each entry. Game Developer and GDC are sister organizations under Informa.

Ginger is an exploration of an unfamiliar language, challenging the player to uncover meaning in their own notorious references between words and their ability to decode the pronunciations of these words.

Game Developer chatted with Kevin Du, the game’s creator, about the obstacles (and the allure) of crafting their unique spoken language, why they structured the game like a dictionary, and what inspired them to incorporate elements that assist with the pronunciation of their invented words.

Who are you, and what was your role in creating Ginger?

My name is Kevin Du. I’m the sole developer of Ginger. My previous project is Kevin (1997-2077).

What is your background in game development?

I studied game design and architecture in college. After graduating, I created experimental games full-time.

How did you devise the concept for Ginger?

The original prototype is an adaptation of the story of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah cannot perceive the world without the whale’s aid, and speech is the only thing Jonah can produce. I conceptualized it to discuss the relationship between body (the whale) and what is often deemed the soul (Jonah), but later they were abstracted into organs and words.

What design tools were used to create your game?

I utilized Unity Engine along with two plugins: Shapes by Freya Holmér and Book—Web Asset Curl Pro by Abdullah Aldandarawy.

Your previous IGF-nominated game, Kevin (1997-2077), delved into language and meaning through an expansive storyline conveyed through notes in a fictional visual/hieroglyphic-style language that players needed to decipher. In this game, the language players must navigate consists of words in a language you’ve crafted. What intrigued you about exploring language and meaning once more? What motivated you to work with words that players can interpret and articulate? Why engage with language at all?

I hope the world can be united, yet language barriers persist everywhere. A notable concept in one culture may be entirely unfamiliar in another, which can lead to difficulties in understanding others. The language in Kevin (1997-2077) is emotionally personal due to its pictorial representation. After completing it, I found several questions about language remained ambiguous: Is it organic or artificial? Is it a means of communication or an inseparable part of understanding? Is language something that genuinely needs to be cherished?

To address these inquiries, I devised a new language this time that resembles a European language but with unconventional grammar (from an unusual perspective). The Latin alphabet and its associated languages play a vital role in this new world. A considerable amount of information is merely documented in these languages. What if we completely removed all external references— for example, everyone understands the term “car,” but what if someone had never seen a car, like an alien?

I enthusiastically encourage the player to reconstruct knowledge. Engaging as a purposeful act holds immense transformative power. I believe the more the player reflects, the more understanding they will likely develop.

What specific challenges arose from creating an entirely new written language? What interesting features and gameplay opportunities emerged from designing this language?

In regard to this language, the design work was challenging initially because each word demands to be defined by other words that have not yet existed or been defined. Moreover, these are essential words that deeply resonate with a designer’s philosophy, so I needed to tread carefully. I established the language atmosphere to be self-sufficient once I reached around 300 words.

In the early stages, I conceived the idea of communicating with voiced sounds and casting spells with voiceless sounds. That’s why voiced and voiceless sounds appear in pairs within the game; all transformations can turn into magic when you speak.

Imagery provides players with many clues about what an image may signify, but a letter-based language might not offer any hints about a word’s meaning without comparing it to another language. What elements contribute to providing players with hints about what a word might mean? In developing the

game’s framework of internal famed-references to develop comprehension of what this linguistic capability?

All internal famed-references, as a whole, represented an exceptionally magnificent aesthetic design I was once striving for. Like a flowing entity across the earth, the lake, the mountains. No force sustains it; however, it exists, flowing silently.

To enhance the game’s playability (in a novel way), I incorporated a subtle tutorial/guide. Yet, to be honest, I can’t say I appreciate it. If I ever get the chance to launch a published version, I will eliminate that section to immerse in the authenticity.

What inspired you to craft the narrative as a lexicon? And how did you create a story within the limits of a dictionary format? How do you construct a tale using a reference book for a language?

I have a profound appreciation for the connection between information and a “beloved you.” A dictionary is about definition, while a narrative is about fusion. The dictionary provides terms, and the player synthesizes them. As a designer, I focused on the recipe, not the cooking itself. Additionally, the types of words included and their frequencies influence the emotional experience.

What motivated you to incorporate the pronunciation elements at the top of the display? Why was pronunciation such an essential part of the player’s experience with the game? Why was it so vital to provide such intricate details about mouth movements for the pronunciation?

In the context of Jonah mentioned earlier, mouth movements represent the body. Complex simulation can create a depth of awareness. Regarding conventional language, essentially, pronunciation enables a book to be read, not merely seen, then spoken, rather than unvoiced. With the assistance of the in-game vocabulary, pronunciation transforms a btebr i