Theme and story in level design

Each level must tell a (simple) story. For example, in Tropical Freeze the Fruit Factory level shows all the process that fruit follows when recollected and masterfully spawns all level challenges with this theme: the player must walk on the fruit being carried on threadmills, avoid knifes cutting fuit in half, jump on the pieces that fly aways from the squeezer...Sawmill Thrill changes the minecart to a raft, back to a minecart using the wood factory theme. Saws change the scenery and provide different challenges as the player progresses. A giant saw even falls out of place and chases the player destroying everything in it´s way in a final, awesome rush.

These moments provide a nice change of pace to the levels and make them memorable and easily identifiable. All levels follow a basic structure, first presenting the current setting, then developing it through the level and finally introducing a change and a resolution. Does it sound familiar? Of course, this is the Kishotenketsu structure all over again!
So, apart from applying the Kishotenketsu structure to challenge development, we must also apply it to the level´s theme. The process we´ll have to follow will be similar to this:

• Define level´s main mechanic.
• Define the crysis moment(s).
• Define the theme and the secondary mechanics that fit it.
• Shape the level story so it builds up to the crysis moment(s).
• Define the chalenges so they fit the level story.

Bear in mind that the Kishotenketsu structure doesn´t need to be followed rigidly: in Tropical Freeze there are levels that have more than one moment of crysis:

• Irate Eight: There is an escape sequence close to the level´s midpoint and abother one at the end. Sort of a Ki-sho-ten-sho-ten-ketsu structure, or a wester 2-act narrative with a crysis at the end of the last act that changes the world for the second act. The second act build up tension for the final confrontation and the third act presents the second crysis and a final resolution.
• The Rocket Barrel level in the Fruit Island with the robot riding a big mecha: does something similar, pitting the player against the mecha several times before finally getting rid of it at the end.

We should make use of this resource so that the levels don´t become predictable and can stand out more between them.