A game poem
Made with p5.js
When I Came Back
Where We Used to Be
A game poem about returning to something familiar, yet changed.
01 / The poem
Returning to something familiar, yet changed.
Through this game poem, I wanted to recreate that feeling of returning to something familiar yet changed, and of finding the courage to move forward despite that sense of loss. The narrative is intentionally left open to interpretation, allowing players to project their own emotions and memories onto it.
02 / Design process
It began with a Diwali vacation.
This game poem is partly inspired by a personal experience during my Diwali vacation. I was excited to return home and reconnect with my friends, to relive old memories and familiar places. But when I got there, I realised that while I had been away, life had gone on for them: they had grown closer, and I had changed in my own way elsewhere.
At first, the assignment felt a bit bland; I couldn’t quite feel the mood I wanted to convey. But as I continued refining it, I added visuals and music, the code gradually became more complex, and in that process of trial and error, the emotion began to surface.
03 / The walk
Five places, one way there and one way back.
01
COLLEGE
You start at the old bus stop and walk right, towards the bus waiting at the edge of the college.
02
THE BUS
The bus carries you across town, rocking gently along the road.
03
THE MEMORY STREET
As you walk, old memories with family and friends fade in and out of the evening sky, one for each stretch of the street.
04
THE HOUSE
The people waiting outside fade away as you come closer. “Sigh…” “Should I go inside?” “It doesn’t feel the same.” Inside: “No one lives here except me now.”
05
THE WAY BACK
Your friends are back at the college, laughing together. “Devu! How was your vacation? We missed you, man!” “(I think it’s time I moved on)”
04 / Memories
Five memories along the street.
Memory 1
Memory 2
Memory 3
Memory 4
Memory 5
05 / Making it
Built slowly, by trial and error.
Built with
p5.js and p5.sound, as a single page that runs in the browser.
Walk cycle
A hand-drawn 9-frame walk. After the house, it switches to a sadder walk with heavier, slower steps.
Sound
Three music tracks change with the mood, along with footsteps and the bus.
Controls
Click to begin. ← → walk. ↑ enter the house. ↓ step outside.
Carry the memory, not the weight.
Thank you.
When I Came Back, Where We Used to Be / Game poem
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