Hypothetical Question: You Have Been Hired to Make a Wizard of Oz Game, How Would You Go About It?

[Winter]

You know I'm honestly surprised no one has actually done this yet. There have been Oz games but none that are, you know, good or interesting or well developed and with the original series written by L. Frank Baum it's not like there's anything stopping someone from making such a game.

But let's talk about that, Oz is a fascinating series with a lot of lore, interesting characters and unique characters and the illustrations by Baum are unique and memorable. In terms of continuity there's really nothing of note there, the series often contradicted itself to the point that trying to read the series from one book to another would often become an exercise in frustration if you do care about continuity.

But the series honestly would make for a fascinating game and there is a lot of lore to draw upon. While many of the series' more iconic bits are still locked off as their owned by the 1939 film that's easy enough to work around if you don't want to deal with that. Honestly I think it would be more interesting to just ignore the 1939 classic and focus on the novels but if you really want to use elements from the original film then you could just get permission if you think the iconic elements from the film are just to popular to work without like the Wicked Witch or the ruby slippers.

That then leads to the question of this whole post, how would you go about making such a game.

All options are open do as you wish, any kind of game and kinda of artstyle any kind of story. Faithful adaptations or just go all out and do your own thing.

Me personally I would make a more original story and just kinda cheery pick the bits of the series I would want to include. I would have Dorothy Gale as the main character, with Ozma as a secondary playable character and Dorothy's love interest with the Wicked Witch as the main antagonist. The story would be a lose adaptations of the first book but use elements from other novels in the series like The Marvelous Land of Oz (which is where the game would get it's title) Glinda of Oz and so on. Dorothy and Ozma would both be aged up to be in their late teens with the main theme being about becoming adults while holding onto the child within them.

This would be an open world with gameplay similar to that of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild though there would be a story path to follow you can't just b-line it to the final dungeon after you finish the tutorial. I would use the illustrations made by Baum for the NPCs of the characters and the general layout is pretty much the same as it is in the books, 4 lands with the Emerald City in the middle of it all. You have a number of companions who help you throughout your adventure, the original three of course (the lion, scarecrow and tin man) along with Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-Tok and The Sawhorse.

While the Wicked Witch is the main antagonist there are other adversaries you encounter that are either working with the Witch or working against her but also against you.

I would make the game E for Everyone as I see no real reason to try and "Age it Up" or make it dark and gritty. Sure that can work but that just doesn't feel right to me here. As I said before I would want to make this about growing up but holding onto childhood. It's so easy to fall into cynicism and give into our darker impulses, it's much harder to hold onto hope and to see the good in others.

One thing I mentioned that I actually liked about the book Wicked was how Dorothy had gone to the Witch to ask her for forgiveness for the death of her sister. Sure it wasn't intentional but it still happened and she feels bad for it and wants to ask the person hurt most by this for forgiveness.

This would incorporate ideas from Wicked (the play) but would still stick closer to the original novel with the ultimate idea being that there are some people we're just not able to help.

Also the story would end with Dorothy remaining in Oz with her family (who would be given a bigger role in this game) and getting engaged or married to Ozma (the game would take place over the course of a year and Dorothy and Ozma new each other before the events of the game so there's a lot history between the two).

And finally I would make this a musical. Not sure how that would work but I see no reason not to do so. And God help me if possible I would love to make open world music a instrumental version of "We're off to see the Wizard" cause god I love that song.

So, how would you go about it?

[stryke]

Basically Pikmin but with flying monkeys.

[Thebestoftherest]

Make it as gay as possible.

[CharlesPhipps]

Avoid it being grimdark and anyone who suggests it is turned into a hat.

[Winter]

Avoid it being grimdark and anyone who suggests it is turned into a hat.

I'm not against the idea of a darker and edgier Oz story (Lies of P is a great example of how to do a dark re-imagining of a classic fairy tale well) but on this one, yeah I would want to keep things lighthearted and upbeat.

Like I said one idea I would want to tackle is the idea of focusing on Dorothy and Ozma growing up, that this is a coming of age story as they go from childhood to adulthood but with the idea to hold onto their childhood while still allowing themselves to grow up. Going from two girls scared of the threats they face, of leaving home and unsure how to act on their feelings for each other and fearful that growing up must mean that they leave what they love about Oz (childhood) behind.

And at the end their now to confident young women who faced down what they feared and won, deciding that it's tome to leave home (Kansas), embrace their feelings for each other and realize that while they've grown up they can still remain in Oz, (holding onto their childhood).

I love Wicked because it took a story we were familiar with but with twist that maybe things weren't as black and white as we thought (though the play handled this WAAAY better then the book). And it's still a story that everyone of any age can enjoy.

As I also said before I would want to borrow ideas from Wicked in this hypothetical game with the idea that maybe the Witch wasn't all bad, maybe the Wizard is even more flawed then we thought, and that things aren't exactly as they seemed.

Again the one and only bit I like from the Wicked novel is the idea that Dorothy didn't go to the Witch to kill her but to ask for forgiveness for killing her sister. I love that idea that Dorothy, the most innocent person in this story, holds onto her innocents by admitting to what she is guilty of even if it was an accident and not even really her fault.