Turbo Pudding

JungalooMeet the cast

Meet Princess Orla

· The Turbo Pudding team · 4 min read

The evening before Bloomnight on the palace terrace: Princess Orla, a twelve-year-old girl with brown skin, a round dark bob topped by a tall bud-shaped bun with a twig through it, a crown of open pink flowers and big round gold glasses, stands on pale stone tiles with two fingers at her lips and her eyes shut, whistling, three music notes drifting off to the left; she wears lilac overalls over a white shirt, a brown satchel and brown boots; behind her runs a white balustrade over a pink and violet sunset sea with two dark islands and palm silhouettes, a clay pot of flowers stands on the right beside the palace’s glass wall, and high above, a closed pink bud sits on a fluffy cloud with long roots hanging down

Once every hundred years, on Bloomnight, the Skybloom wakes over the Thousandleaf Isles, and every island blooms with it. Someone has to wake it, and in Jungaloo that someone is Princess Orla. It’s Monday, so meet the girl Tavo spends the whole game chasing.

At the top, it’s the evening before Bloomnight. Orla is rehearsing on the palace terrace, eyes shut, two fingers at her lips, while the Skybloom’s closed bud rides a cloud overhead.

Twelve, and in charge of the plants

Orla is twelve and the island’s head botanist, and she dresses for the job: lilac overalls over a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, sturdy brown boots, and a satchel on a strap across her chest with two seed packets poking out. A pair of green garden gloves is stuffed into a side pocket.

No ball gown, no jeweled tiara. Her dark hair is a round bob with one tall bun on top, shaped like a flower bud and pinned with a twig, a real bud at its tip. Big round gold glasses do a lot of her talking, helped by one eyebrow she likes to keep raised.

A crown that shows her mood

Instead of a tiara, Orla wears a hoop of living buds. When she’s pleased, they open into pink flowers with gold centers. When she’s cross, they shut tight. Standing at ease, she has four open and one still shut, which feels about right for Orla.

Four drawings of Princess Orla side by side on a plain cream background, all facing right: standing at ease, with four flowers of her bud crown open and one bud shut; arms folded across her chest, every bud of the crown shut and one eyebrow raised; two fingers at her lips, eyes shut and cheeks round, two music notes floating away from her; and laughing, eyes squeezed into happy arcs, mouth open, two little white puffs by her nose; in every drawing she has a tall dark bun shaped like a bud with a twig through it, big round gold glasses, a lilac bib with a square pocket over a white shirt, a brown satchel with seed packets and brown boots
Searched “princess character design.” Got a botanist with opinions.

The whistle

Orla’s big talent is a two-finger whistle, and tomorrow night she’ll use it to whistle the Wake Song. In the prologue she’s still rehearsing, and she knows exactly who her toughest audience is: “Two fingers, deep breath… Tavo, don’t you dare laugh.”

The Wake Song belongs to her in the music, too. Its opening rings out on brass in the song for Thunderveil Falls, and in the Glowwood’s night music it comes back whistled at half speed. Even her speech bubbles sound like her. Every character’s lines type out in little chirps, and Orla’s is a pure, high note that slides upward, more than twice as high as Tavo’s.

Tavo is late. Again.

While she practices, Tavo is up a palm, one arm stretched toward the perfect mango. Orla waits by the balustrade below, arms folded, every bud on her crown shut, and delivers her verdict: “You’re late. Again.”

Sunset over the Thousandleaf Isles: Tavo, a boy with a dark spiky tuft, a woven basket of fruit on his back and orange shorts, stands in the green crown of a tall palm and stretches one arm up toward a mango hanging from a branch, more mangoes dangling around him; far below on the right, Princess Orla in her lilac overalls and gold glasses stands by a white stone balustrade with her arms folded and the buds of her crown shut; a small island with two palm trees sits on a violet sea behind her, a big leaf pokes in at the bottom right corner, and long roots trail down from a cloud at the top of the picture
Typed “friendship game.” Results: one mango, one raised eyebrow.

“I don’t do concerts”

Then Baron Fanfaron’s parade floats in, gondolas hanging under great bouquets of plumes, and the Baron wants Orla’s whistle for his own show tomorrow night. She folds her arms again: “I don’t do concerts.”

The Baron doesn’t take no for an answer. A burst of his glitter, and Orla is standing in a golden birdcage with a heart-shaped lock, a Frillguard posted on each side.

Night on the palace terrace with glitter swirling in the air: Princess Orla stands inside a tall golden birdcage with a domed top, a feather plume on its tip and a heart-shaped lock on its middle band, her hands on the bars and her eyes turned up, the buds of her crown shut; on each side of the cage stands a Frillguard, a lizard in a little gold helmet with a purple feather, the left one shouting with its orange frill flared wide, the right one with its frill folded back; behind them are the glass domes of the palace, a stone balustrade, the dark shape of a palm and, at the top right, the golden prow of a gondola
Search: “birdcage puzzle.” This one has a heart-shaped lock.

Letters by leaf

From inside the parade, Orla keeps Tavo posted the only way she can. Between levels, a leaf folded into a little bird flies in and opens across the whole screen into a big leaf of parchment. Her handwriting types itself out in the same chirp as her voice, and she signs every letter with just “O.” In the margins are her doodles: a bud, an arrow pointing up and a small pink heart.

The letters are short, practical and dry. One, waiting at the foot of the falls, reports that the Baron has stopped there to “rehearse” and warns: “His diva sings so loud the rocks crack.”

Another shows the kind of thinking only Orla would do. Under the Lantern Tree, at the end of the Glowwood, its fireflies blink all at once and draw a glowing arrow across the night sky. Then her letter explains: “I taught the fireflies a trick. Follow the arrow.”

Orla’s leaf letter opened across the whole screen: a huge cream-colored leaf with pale green veins floats on a deep green background of soft, blurred leaves, written in brown handwriting: “I taught the fireflies a trick. Follow the arrow. Also — the Skybloom looks sick. Petals drooping. I need a closer look.” and signed “— O.”; a small drawn bud sits near the top right of the writing, an arrow pointing up is drawn on the left, a little pink heart at the bottom, and leafy corners and a garland of liana frame the picture
Search history: “handwritten letter game.” Signed, simply, “O.”

Levels 1–3 and the first boss are free to play in your browser at jungaloo.com. The full game is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on the Jungaloo page.

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