BLACK WHITE BEAR
Updated: 18 hours ago
Solo Developer
Black White Bear is a narrative game about identity, difference, discrimination, and belonging.
The project was inspired by the historical introduction of the giant panda to Western science.
When missionary and naturalist Armand David sent panda specimens from China to Europe in the nineteenth century, the animal's unusual black-and-white appearance initially faced skepticism from people unfamiliar with the species.
I used this history as the foundation for an allegorical story about how unfamiliar identities can be misunderstood or rejected.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Role: Solo Developer · Game Designer
Project Type: Passion Project
Platform: HTML5 · Web
Genre: Visual Novel · Narrative Game
Core Focus: Narrative Design · Game Design · Interactive Storytelling · Social Impact
NARRATIVE & CONCEPT
The story follows Baby Panda, who is found beside a river near a mountain village inhabited by bears of single colors. An aunt bear adopts and protects the panda as it experiences discrimination and hostility because of its unusual appearance. After growing up, Baby Panda leaves the village to search for its own identity, find others like itself, and confront the outside world.
Most characters intentionally have no specified gender, regardless of their fur color. The contrast between the panda and the single-colored bears became the central visual metaphor of the project: something can appear unusual within one community without being unnatural or invalid.
INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING
Rather than separating the social theme from the game itself, I designed the characters, visual language, narrative, and player interactions around the same central metaphor. The project uses a simple browser-based format so that the story can be played directly on desktop or mobile without installation.
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