On his own, Caliban is not strong enough to overthrow Prospero with his magical powers, so throughout the game, Caliban must gather allies and gain support from other characters in The Tempest in secret, such as Trinculo, Stephano, and spirits such as Ariel who are not content with Prospero’s rule and may be persuaded to join Caliban’s rebellion. Thus, Caliban’s Revenge is primarily a dialog-based game, in which the player must use their limited time away from the watchful eye of Prospero (such as when they are gathering wood) to effectively attract companions who will join him in his final showdown.
If Caliban has not gained enough allies by the end of the game (for example, just Trinculo and Stephano), Prospero will likely crush the rebellion and decidedly prevent Caliban from ever reclaiming control. However, if Caliban is able to gain additional allies, like Ariel, who possesses elemental powers, or the other magical spirits on the island, he may have a chance at defeating Prospero and achieving his revenge.
The lines that served as the foundation for my adaptation include "This island's mine by Sycorax, my mother, / Which thou tak'st from me" (1.2.396-7), which establishes Caliban’s history and motivation, and the lines, "be quick, thou 'rt best, / To answer other business. / If thou neglect'st or dost unwillingly / What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps, / Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar / That beasts shall tremble at thy din" (1.2.440-6) which portray Prospero as a cruel and tyrannical ruler, a foreigner who enslaves Caliban and establishes an abusive power dynamic. Perhaps a cutscene at the start of Caliban’s Revenge would include such an interaction, as it increases empathy for Caliban and explains the origin of the mission.
The main choice I made in this adaptation was to shift the perspective of the events of The Tempest. Both Prospero and Caliban are engaged in the same mission to obtain revenge and reclaim their native land, but The Tempest is written from Prospero's perspective, while Caliban’s Revenge is played from Caliban's perspective. In The Tempest, Caliban’s mission is a side plot that interrupts Prospero’s larger plans and is quickly dealt with, while in Caliban’s Revenge, it becomes the primary focus of the game, with Prospero's actions occurring in the background. By doing so, I hoped to make Caliban’s mission a more serious threat and to humanize him more by providing more opportunities for him to exhibit deliberate agency.
One insight that I gained about the original Caliban is that he rarely demonstrates intentional agency - throughout the play, he complains about Prospero’s rule but is rarely seen taking action upon it, until he meets Stephano and Trinculo. Yet, he only encounters both characters accidentally (he meets them not of his own volition or drive), so I wanted to focus more on his own initiative in Caliban’s Revenge by presenting him with the option to deliberately engage with other characters and attempt to convince them to join his rebellion.
However, in reframing the story to empathize more with Caliban, the character also loses some of the complexity that is present in the original text. This shift in perspective turns away attention from Caliban's more negative desires and motivations, such as his lust for Miranda, and the conflict between him being a villain and a victim is not as thoroughly explored.