Traversal development

For those who are interested in the ideas behind the design of the game, I thought that I'd write them into a separate devlog. That way, if someone wants to just play the game blindly then they can.

Previous game's that I've made have had themes which may be a little too abstract for people approaching it with the expectation that it's simply a game made for fun, with no underlying meaning. This game is similarly abstract as, on the surface level, it's just a maze game where you need to find out how to get to the end of each maze.

The idea was spawned from the 2020 Rainbow Game Jam theme: strength in numbers.

In the game, the first level shows you the goal - in this case it's to get a gem at the end of your path.
The next level has someone in your way. When you approach them, they attack and kill you. If you instead go a different route, you find someone willing to help. When you are again attacked, there is someone there to take your place to carry on the progress.
The next level presents you with something that looks familiar to you. You can get past the person in your way. After doing so, you have the opportunity to gain another follower.
In the next level, you can gain even more followers. You know that the current player won't be able to get past the enemy, but with so many people behind you, you can feel confident that they'll be able to proceed. 
In the next level, the path isn't clear. You can explore different routes to try to reach the people willing to follow you. When you get to the end of the level, you can see that not all battles need to be fought to make progress.
In the next level, you learn that attacks can happen before you have time to prepare. If you'd been vigilant in previous levels, you should already have people who can take on the enemy when you pass. Clearly, there is strength in numbers. As you move through the level, you try to meet up with all the people that you can, with the group dealing with attackers when they show up. When you get to the final person, they reveal that they are in fact deceiving you and attack you. Your group can continue, but it seeds doubt in your mind about whether you should blindly trust the intentions of everyone that you meet.
The next level shows that there can be alternative routes to progress which avoid unnecessary confrontation, while at other times it's inevitable.
The next level shows that you have to carefully plan ahead. Even though the path is obscured, you know where your goal is and you have a rough idea of where enemies lie. When you can see that there's no easy path, you must plan how to proceed with the fewest casualties.
The next levels shows that sometimes, the path may appear to be straight forward, but at the last moment a huge divergence can appear and you need to re-plan. Sometimes taking the long route is the best choice in the long run.
Finally, just as the path can end up being longer, the goal itself can see well within grasp, only to be taken away from you. However, if you've played the game well enough, ,you'll be prepared for the final task. As a group, you'll be able to get past all the barriers that have been placed in your way and ultimately you'll be able to enjoy the riches that people tried to keep from you.