Cavern of the Evil Wizard
This was inspired by the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks.
Games like this started my obsession with making my own games. It's purely about nostalgia. The struggle Josh Baskin had in the movie "Big" was not wanting to be a kid (frozen in childhood, unable to overcome his perceived obstacles). But all I can seem to think about now is how much I'd like to go back to my childhood and re-experience the best, most care-free time in my life.
"During the first scene I knew that the PC game [Josh Baskin] was playing [was] a metaphor for the events ... to come. The ice-melting puzzle is a metaphor for Josh being stuck in adolescence and how he wants to break free and become an adult. The Zoltar machine is his gateway into adulthood but is also a representation of childhood and innocence. In the end when Josh goes back to work on the puzzle and finds a way to melt the ice, he has learned that being a kid isn't so bad and the puzzle has been completed, therefore he can go back to being a child."
--Kayla Lukacs
Music by the band "Melt Wizard" - available here