I'm struggling to come up with points of interest for my flip screen platform adventure game. I'm looking for ideas for the jungle area and the snow village area.

By points of interest I mean things like an explorers camp or a Mayan totem pole (for the jungle area).

Anyone able to throw me some ideas?

Like literally anything interesting that could be included as a landmark? I'm not really familiar with the genre. Also, what level of civilization?

I would figure out some representative civilizations for your areas (jungle and tundra or however you frame it) and look at the wikipedia articles, then make go through their respective galleries on wikimedia commons (which are generally linked from the main article in a little box near the end of the wikipedia articles). So for example look at Maya then look at the Category:Maya on wikimedia commons, which should give you some unique looking stuff like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Plaza_of_the_Seven_Temples_-_Structure_5D-94.jpg.

Other randoms things:

• Well (water source)
• Swimming hole
• Dock/boats
• Big Old Sacred Tree of Holiness or Whatever
• Graveyard
• Sacred sites
• Jungle clearing (meadow)
• Tree house

I like striking contrasts. Volcanoes and geysers in tundra creating cool rivers flowing through ice, including waterfalls going over cliffs of ice. Caves are also cool for both environments. But even simple terrain shown with an epic sweep, say like a single mountain in the distance with lightning clouds against a setting sun, can serve as a really nice point of interest.

I would start by defining areas and transitions. Lets say the level begins in a explorer base, then there should be some kind of temple or some kind of ruin later on in the map. Same thing for snow-village. You start in the outskirts and then walk through the village. Deciding on if the village should be "poor" or "rich" can also be a guideline. Poor villages have more damaged buildings, less snow cleared etc. Rich villages have finer details on their buildings and more color. More snow is cleared and there are candles/lamps etc enlighting the road.

Ice area

• Mist & fog overlays
• Snow that breaks loose and falls down
• Icicles
• Snowmen
• Snow-clearing trucks & related gear (extra shovels)
• Sand-boxes/salt boxes
• Shovel (big, small - there are many different types of shovels)
• Areas that are cleared from snow and areas that have not been cleared yet (more snow effects around feet of units)
• Piles of snow where the trucks/people have gathered the snow
• Snow-lanterns
• Its usually dark when its winter (around where I live) so a lot of lamps and lights.
• Stuff that has been frozen into the snow/left out when the snow came
• Snow-toys (ice-skates, skiing gear, pulk, snow-shoes)
• Husky pens
• Snow pillow style: http://tradgardirostock.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/fc3a5gelbogran-snc3b6klc3a4dd.jpg?w=800 (heavy slow snowing over extended time, without wind)
• Ice crust style: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/4197718388_4c194bd591.jpg (fog+minus degrees)
• Generic winter: http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/62234279.jpg (snowing and cold for a long time, note tracks in snow and lack of snow on trees - it has blown down)
• Depending on the part of the world, every village tends to have a center building (main house, church or something) wich other things are centered around.
• Northern lights

I like a good old fashion ruins.

Artic:

• Old sailing ship frozen in the ice
• wind swept camp
• ice fortress
• remains of a snowman army.
• lapland

Jungle:

• mayan pyramid
• tree canopy
• Volcano
• crater
• graveyard made of the bones of long dead beasts.

For arctic regions, how about an Inuksuk?

very helpful replies guys, thanks