About Tanikala at Laya

Tanikala at Laya is a 2D side-scroller visual narrative game built in Unity, telling a fictionalized coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of Martial Law under the Marcos regime — from the early years of curfews and censorship through the unrest that led to the EDSA People Power Revolution. I came on as a freelance developer to help the client's team bring their capstone project to life — from development and cloud infrastructure to the research paper and thesis documentation itself — while the client's team led the narrative and historical research.

Fun fact: "Tanikala" means chains, and "Laya" means freedom, so Tanikala at Laya translates to "Chains and Freedom."

NARRATIVE-DRIVEN GAMEPLAY

A 2D SIDE-SCROLLER TOLD THROUGH A FAMILY'S EYES

Players move through hand-crafted 2D environments as the story unfolds in chapters, each representing a different period of Martial Law — from its declaration to the growing resistance movements and the eventual uprising at EDSA.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

DIALOGUE AND EVENTS GROUNDED IN REAL HISTORY

Story beats, dialogue, and in-game events were researched and written by the client's team to reflect real accounts from the Martial Law period, giving the game an educational layer alongside its narrative.

CLOUD SAVE SYSTEM

PROGRESS AND ASSETS SYNCED THROUGH FIREBASE

Player save data is stored in Firestore, while game assets and media are served from Firebase Storage — keeping the build lightweight and progress persistent across sessions.

THESIS & RESEARCH SUPPORT

HELPED WRITE THE RESEARCH PAPER AND REVISE THE MANUSCRIPT

Beyond development, I contributed to the capstone's research paper and helped revise the technical manuscript — including flowcharts, an ERD, use case diagrams, IPO diagrams, and the architectural framework — to match the actual system that was built.