ni li kiwen

As a creative person, I have always been fascinated by different languages and means of communication, and the unique ideas that they can communicate. This has informed an interest in linguistics and in puzzle design. Willow Flame's "Not My Lang" game jam gave me an opportunity to bring these two interests together.

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Ni li kiwen is a game with no English, with instructions written entirely in Toki Pona (a constructed language created by Sonja Lang). The player must interpret the symbols based on their context within the level, starting with the most basic of sentences such as "this is rock", and gradually learning to complete more complex tasks such as "place the rock above the plant".

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The symbols in this game are used for tutorials, puzzles, and for narrative world building, all of which encourages (and rewards) curiosity from players.