I have an idea for a game: It's the usual "a princess is kidnapped by a dragon and a brave knight is on a quest to rescue her" story. But you (the player) plays as the princess, who is somehow helping the knight on his quest.

The issue is that since the player is playing as a trapped character, I want to make the player feel trapped, but I don't know how to do that.

My original idea is that the princess telepathically communicates with the knight and tells him what to do. But this doesn't work, the gameplay is identical to the player playing as the knight. How can I make the gameplay feel like the player is playing as the princess (and thus feel trapped) instead of the knight?

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[–] wirelesswire@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

She could communicate with the knight like this.

In all seriousness, maybe it could be part stealth game, where she breaks out of her confines and sneaks around the dragon's lair to do various things, only to make it back in time to avoid being found out.

A bit more whimsical, but maybe she's a Disney princess, and can communicate with birds and such to relay vague messages to her would-be rescuer. She could use the animals to distract or sabotage the dragon's minions and make the knight's journey easier.

She could have magical abilities, which you could then take in all sorts of directions.