Game concept
Abhiram returns to his grandmother's village with one intention: convince her to leave for the city. But when he accidentally breaks her Pulluvan Kudam, his attempt to repair it becomes a journey into music, memory, and belonging.
Set in the lush landscapes of rural Kerala, Echoes of the Grove follows a young boy who discovers a forgotten connection to his roots through music, the people of a village, and a tradition he never understood.
Design process
01
Research
Pulluvan Paattu, sacred groves and serpent worship
02
Concept
A city boy, his grandmother and the broken Kudam
03
Ideation
Event breakdown, beat chart and pacing
04
Design
Map, level design and characters
05
Prototyping
Greybox and building the village in Unity
06
Playtesting
Walking routes, statue discovery and story triggers
07
Balancing
Song difficulty and pacing between beats
Gameplay
The story behind the song
Pulluvan Paattu
A ritualistic folk song performed by the Pulluvar community, as the name says, in shrines and temples devoted to “Naga Raja”, the king of serpents. The Pulluvar community of Kerala are snake worshippers who consider the “snake gods” their deities. They perform rituals and sing the praises of snake deities like Naagarajavu, Naagayakshi, Sarppayakshi and Karinaagam.
The Pulluvan (the men of the community) and the Pullavatti (the women) sing to the Pulluvan Veena, a one-stringed instrument; the Pulluvan Kudam, an earthenware pot with a string attached; and the thaalam, bell-metal chimes.
Why Pulluvan Paattu
• Sacred groves
• Serpent worship
• Village life
• Community
• Ritual & narration
• Music & instruments
The opportunity
Instead of retelling a legend, we could create a new story around a living tradition, with space for an original, player-driven experience.
Our direction
A boy who comes to take his grandmother away from her traditional life slowly discovers why she chose to remain, and finds his own connection to what he once never understood.
Space
All the places the boy can visit and move between: Grandmother's house, village roads, paddy fields, people's houses, the forest, the potter's place, the hunter's area, the Pulluvan's place, the sacred grove, snake statue locations, the serpent stone and the construction site.
Experience
A mix of music, exploration and activities, tense moments such as the boar chase and saving the snake, and a gradual emotional journey from curiosity and discovery to connection, responsibility and belonging.
Play
Exploration, running and cycling around the different spaces, collecting things, making the Pulluvan instrument, learning and playing it, finding snake statues and revealing the lyrics of the Pulluvan Paattu.
Narrative
A boy comes to convince his grandmother to move to the city. After breaking her Pulluvan Kudam he learns to make and play a new one, discovers the meaning of the songs and sacred groves, helps protect a snake, and finally fights to protect the grove from construction.
World
Rural Kerala in 2010, as urbanisation begins to change the landscape. Construction is moving closer to the forest and sacred grove. The world includes the village, paddy fields, forests, sacred groves and traditional houses.
Game narrative
Abhi arrives in the village with a single goal: to convince his grandmother to leave her village and come back with him to the city. Their family belongs to the traditional Pulluvan community, a lineage known for visiting houses to sing the Pulluvan Paattu, the sacred serpent-worshipping songs. His grandmother is the very last member of the family keeping this ancient tradition alive. She is deeply rooted in her culture and her home, and she firmly refuses to leave it all behind for a life in the city.
The tension between them boils over into a heated argument, and in the middle of it Abhi accidentally breaks his grandmother's sacred Pulluvan Kudam. Overwhelmed by guilt and fear, he runs from the house and into the village until he stumbles into the sacred grove.
In the quiet of the grove he hears the familiar melody of a Pulluvan song. Following the sound, he finds a Pulluvan man singing and asks him to help craft a new Kudam for his grandmother. The man agrees, but tells Abhi he must first gather the materials: a clay pot and a piece of leather.
Once Abhi has them, the man crafts the new instrument and encourages the boy to try playing it. Abhi sits beside a serpent sculpture in the grove and begins to play. As the music fills the air, something magical happens: a fragment of ancient, forgotten lyrics physically emerges from the stone.
Characters
Abhiram (Abhi)
Player character
A city kid back in the village after three years, who knows nothing of Pulluvan Paattu.
Curious
Energetic
Talkative
Loves music
Read more +
Appearance: A 12-year-old boy, 5 feet tall, with a slim build and dark skin. He wears spectacles.
Background: He lives in the city and knows nothing of the Pulluvan Paattu tradition, as his parents never encouraged him to learn about the culture. He visited his grandmother every vacation until he was 9, and is now returning after 3 years.
Personality: Curious, energetic, kind, caring, talkative and expressive. He loves playing musical instruments.
Lakshmikutty
Grandma
Respected by the whole village, and the keeper of the family's Pulluvan Kudam.
Stubborn
Superstitious
Warm
Traditional
Read more +
Appearance: 71 years old, 5'2" tall, with dark skin.
Background: Loved and respected by everyone in the village.
Personality: Stubborn, strong-willed and very superstitious. Traditional and deeply rooted in her beliefs, yet warm and caring. She loves cooking and always encourages the boy to play Pulluvan Paattu.
Physical quirks: She gets up from the floor slowly and holds her knees for a moment because they feel weak.
Sukumaran
Pulluvan
The Pulluvan singer who helps Abhi rebuild the Kudam and keeps the tradition alive.
Calm
Traditional
Superstitious
Read more +
Appearance: 40 years old, 5'8" tall, with dark skin, a beard and long hair.
Role: Abhiram goes to him to make the Pulluvan Kudam. He sings Pulluvan Paattu and is deeply connected to the tradition, taking pride in preserving it.
Personality: Calm, traditional and very superstitious. He has a family and holds great respect for Abhiram's grandmother.
Thangappan
Potter
The village potter who shapes the clay pot at the heart of the Kudam.
Quiet
Patient
Craftsman
Read more +
Appearance: 60 years old and wears spectacles.
Role: A skilled potter who carefully crafts the pot used for the Pulluvan Kudam. Abhiram goes to him for this, and he is respected for his craftsmanship in the village.
Personality: Quiet, not very talkative, calm and patient. He takes great pride in his work and strongly respects the pottery tradition.
Narayanettan
Tea shop owner
Runs the tea shop and knows every bit of village news.
Talkative
Friendly
Superstitious
Read more +
Appearance: 50 years old, 5'11", with dark skin and a slim but healthy build.
Role: Runs a tea shop and a small grocery nearby, making really good tea. The village's main source of news, because he knows almost everyone and everything going on.
Personality: Talkative, friendly, approachable and superstitious. He has a family, loves chatting with customers and is very fond of Abhiram.
Ayyappan
Hunter
Hunter and herder who gives Abhi the animal skin for the Kudam.
Rude
Stubborn
Knows animals
Read more +
Appearance: 55 years old and 5'9" tall.
Role: A hunter and herder who looks after sheep and cattle. Abhiram visits him to get the animal skin needed for the Pulluvan Kudam.
Personality: Rude and stubborn, and loves time in the wilderness. Experienced and knowledgeable about animals, he spends most of his time in his hideout, so his wife complains that he never comes home.
Core game loop
Early game
Mid game and on
Core mechanics
Movement mechanics
Move ⟶ Arrow keys [Movement of the player]
Jump ⟶ Space bar [Player jump]
Sprint ⟶ Shift [Player runs]
Interact ⟶ E [Interact with the NPCs]
Instrument mechanics
Pulluvan Kudam
Once the Kudam is rebuilt, it becomes the controller. Up and down arrows travel along the string towards the Kudam. When an arrow reaches the square, the player scrolls the mouse wheel in the same direction. A correct scroll plucks the string.
Scroll up ⟶ Mouse wheel up [Match an ↑ arrow in the square]
Scroll down ⟶ Mouse wheel down [Match a ↓ arrow in the square]
Shrine progression
After the repair, the Pulluvan asks the player to play the Kudam in front of the serpent sculpture. Finishing the song reveals a fragment of the ancient lyrics. From then on the player explores the village to find the other four sculptures and plays before each one to collect the rest of the song. Once the fifth sculpture is played, the sacred grove unlocks for the final song.
Difficulty progression
There are six songs in all: five sculptures and the finale at the sacred grove. Difficulty follows the order in which sculptures are discovered, not the sculpture itself, so whichever one the player finds next always plays a harder song than the last. The sacred grove unlocks after the fifth sculpture and combines every previous level, making it the hardest of all.
Character arc
Beat chart
Elements
Arrival & Exploration
Argument
Instrument Making & Learning
Collecting the Lyrics
Singing the Collected Song at the Sacred Grove
Objective
Understand the backstory and establish the context.
Convince Grandma to move to the city and deal with the aftermath of breaking the Kudam.
Meet the potter and tanner, collect materials, build the Kudam, and learn to play it from the Pulluvan.
Explore the village, find serpent statues, and collect the song lyrics.
Play the complete Pulluvan song for the first time.
Space
Bus stop, tea shop, village roads, Grandma's house.
Abhiram's room, veranda, village road.
Tea shop junction, potter's house, tanner's house and hideout, pond, paddy fields, riverbed.
Entire game map, serpent statue locations.
Sacred grove.
NPC + PC
Abhiram, Lakshmikutty, optional tea shop NPC.
Abhiram, Lakshmikutty.
Abhiram, Narayanettan, Pulluvan, potter, tanner, tanner's wife, grazing animals, Grandma.
Abhiram, 2–3 NPCs who provide information about construction and serpent statue locations.
Abhiram and all NPCs.
Challenges
None.
None.
Find the potter and tanner, collect clay, make the pot, locate the tanner's hideout, and learn to play the instrument.
Find serpent statues and play the instrument to reveal lyrics.
Play the complete song correctly.
Mechanics / Interaction
Walking, dialogue, point-and-click interaction.
Snatching, running, walking.
Walking, running, climbing, clay collection, pot crafting, instrument playing.
Walking, running, dialogue, instrument playing.
Instrument playing.
Objects / Tools
Bags, tea shop, flowers.
Pulluvan Kudam.
Pulluvan Kudam, animal skin, pots, clay, animals.
Pulluvan Kudam, serpent statues.
Pulluvan Kudam, decorations, serpent statues, banyan tree.
Music / Sound
Village insects and ambient sounds.
Pulluvan Veena.
Pulluvan song, ambient sounds related to each location.
Pulluvan Kudam rhythm.
Complete Pulluvan song.
Weather & Time
Sunny morning.
Cloudy.
Alternating sunny and cloudy weather.
Daytime.
Late evening.
Rewards
Money.
None.
Completed Pulluvan Kudam.
Pulluvan song lyrics.
Story conclusion.
Pacing graph
Argument peak → small emotional reset at the Pulluvan → rise again at clay
Meeting the Pulluvan is a narrative trigger and a guidance moment. Finding clay is the first active commitment by the player. It marks the shift from “I caused a problem” to “I am trying to fix it”, and involves more exploration, movement and small tasks than the conversation with the Pulluvan. So the line dips a little at the Pulluvan, then climbs again at clay instead of dropping too low after the argument.
Meeting the Pulluvan < Finding Clay ≤ Gathering Leather
Event breakdown
Early event breakdown, so it may contain content that isn't in the final game.
Act 1
Arrival
Grandma meets Abhi off the bus and walks him home.
Read more +
Understanding the backstory and context setting
• Grandma is waiting at the bus stand; the boy gets off the bus.
• She walks him home. If he wanders off she waits on the spot until he comes back.
• Narayanettan at the tea shop hasn't seen him in years and says Grandma has been waiting.
• Next day (cutscene): Grandma sings Pulluvan Paattu and tells him it keeps bad energy away.
Act 2
Argument
Abhi snatches the Kudam to make a point, and it breaks.
Read more +
Trying to convince Grandma to leave for the city, and the Kudam breaking
• He finds Grandma on the veranda, cleaning her Pulluvan Kudam.
• She ignores him; he snatches the Kudam: “This is why they all left!”
• It breaks. Silence. Grandma is shocked.
• He runs down the road (cutscene), past the first signs of construction.
Act 3
Instrument learning and making
He gathers clay and leather, and the Pulluvan builds a new Kudam.
Read more +
Meeting the potter and tanner, gathering the materials and learning to play
• Sent for oil and snacks, he hears the Pulluvan song near the shop and follows it.
• He tells the Pulluvan about the broken Kudam and asks for a new one.
• Task: clay from the potter (found near water) and leather from the tanner, grazing his animals on the hill.
• Short of money? Sell flowers and collectables. The Pulluvan makes the Kudam and teaches him to play.
Act 4
Collecting the lyrics
Every serpent statue gives back part of the song.
Read more +
Playing the instrument at every statue
• He tells Grandma what happened; she sends him to the other statues, one on the hill.
• Before the last statue, a villager invites him to the big protest.
• Each statue gives back a part of the song.
Act 5
Singing the collected song
Festival night: he plays the whole song for Grandma.
Read more +
Playing the whole song for the first time
• Festival night at the sacred grove: Grandma, the boy and the village.
• He plays the song he gathered. Grandma asks where he learnt it.
Game map
Initial sketch
Basic blockout
Level design
Overview
Echoes of the Grove takes place in a single, interconnected open world. The game begins with guided activities before gradually opening into independent exploration. Early objectives introduce the environment, its people and the process of crafting the Pulluvan Kudam. Once the player learns to play the instrument, the whole world becomes an exploration space where they talk to villagers, read environmental clues, find hidden serpent sculptures and recover pieces of an ancient forgotten song. The experience ends with a festival performance, where the journey of exploration and cultural discovery comes together through music.
The whole village is one level, but the player's relationship with that level changes through the game.
Level progression
Phase
Story and player activities
Level design purpose
Day 1 — Arrival
Follow Grandma from the bus stop to her house. The day ends.
Introduce the village, basic movement, landmarks and the main route
Day 2 — Errand
Grandma asks the boy to buy bananas. Go to the shop, buy them and return home.
Teach independent navigation and NPC interaction through a simple task
The Argument
A conversation turns into an argument. In a cutscene the boy accidentally breaks the Kudam and runs away.
Set up the main objective and the emotional motivation
Discovering the Pulluvan
The boy runs towards the forest and finds himself near the sacred grove. He talks to the Pulluvan.
Introduce the sacred grove, the tradition and the instrument-making goal
Collecting Clay
Visit the potter, gather clay and have him make the pot.
Introduce material gathering and interaction-based objectives
Finding the Hunter
Visit the hunter's house. His wife says he is up on the mountain. Climb the mountain and get leather from him.
Introduce elevation, longer routes and environmental navigation
Making the Kudam
Bring the materials together, make the instrument and learn to play.
Introduce the main gameplay mechanic
Discovering the Lyrics
Play near a serpent sculpture and see forgotten lyrics appear. Go back to Grandma, who tells the boy to play at the other sculptures.
Introduce the central discovery mechanic
Free Exploration
Explore the village, talk to people, find hidden sculptures, play music and collect lyrics.
Open the whole world for self-directed exploration
The Festival
Grandma asks the boy to play at the festival. He plays the ancient forgotten song made from the lyrics he found.
End the story by using everything learned through exploration
The whole map as one level
The map works as one connected village and surrounding wilderness, not a set of separate areas. It has Grandma's house, village roads, the shop, the potter's place, the hunter's house, the mountain, the forests and the sacred grove.
Each space has more than one purpose. During the banana errand the shop is just a destination; later the shopkeeper can give clues about a nearby serpent sculpture. The mountain is first where the player finds the hunter, but later it can hold a hidden sculpture or a viewpoint over unexplored areas. This lets the same places support different stages of the game without feeling repetitive.
Exploration
One of the core ideas was the pleasure of moving through the world and finding things without constant instructions. Exploration is built around three systems:
Environmental landmarks
Large trees, hills, shrines, distinctive houses, bridges and unusual rock formations help players remember places and find their way naturally.
Information through NPCs
Villagers give clues about the serpent sculptures. Instead of exact map markers, their dialogue points to recognisable places, like a sculpture near an old tree or above a stream.
Discovery through music
A sculpture becomes meaningful once the player finds it and plays the Kudam there. The reward is a new part of the forgotten song.
Exploration loop
Explore → Ask → Discover → Play → Collect → Continue
Non-linear exploration and difficulty
The player can find the serpent sculptures in any order while freely exploring the world, but the songs get harder based on how many have been found, not on the location or order of the sculptures. The first sculpture found always gives the easiest song, wherever it is. Each new discovery brings a harder musical pattern, slowly increasing the complexity of rhythm, timing and note sequences.
This lets players explore the map in any order while keeping a steady learning curve, combining the freedom of non-linear exploration with structured progression in playing the instrument.
Game
Environment
Village & paddy fields
Rural Kerala in 2010: tiled-roof houses, coconut palms, the paddy fields and the village road the boy walks on when he arrives.
Purpose: To establish everyday village life and the main route through it.
The pond
The pond sits along the village road, surrounded by palms, trees and tall grass. It is one of the recognisable landmarks while moving through the map.
Purpose: To give the player landmarks for finding their way around the village.
The hill
The hill rises above the palm canopy and can be seen from across the village. The hunter is found grazing his animals on it.
Purpose: A distinctive silhouette that helps the player orient themselves and marks the climb to the hunter.
The sacred grove
Banyan roots, deep shade and the serpent stones: the place the whole story keeps returning to.
Purpose: The emotional centre of the map, where the song is finally played.
Game
3D models
Pulluvan Kudam
The clay pot instrument the boy breaks and rebuilds, modelled with its string and woven netting.
Purpose: The central object of the story and of the main gameplay mechanic.
The bus
The red and yellow bus the boy arrives on at the start of the game.
Purpose: Marks the arrival, the move from the city into the village.
Village houses
Traditional Kerala houses with clay-tiled roofs, verandas and raised plinths, placed across the village.
Purpose: To build the rural Kerala setting of 2010.
Characters
Character models shown as the untextured sculpt and the textured version.
Purpose: To show how the main characters look in the game.
Reflection and learnings
This was a hectic module. We ideated, developed and built this game while we were still learning to model objects. At first we were a little nervous about the scale of the project, but as we started working on it we slowly got a much clearer picture of the game we wanted to build: what to remove, what to keep, and how to flesh out the story much more.
I learned how to manage multiple things at once, bounce ideas and thoughts off my teammates, and keep experimenting with things until I understood them. I learned that the more you play around and try things, the more you learn. I also learned how space can be used to guide the player, and how the space itself can become a playground for the player to explore.
Team
Aashish Dev Raju
Aswathy KK
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