Checkpoint 1: Individual Ideation – Ghost Train!

The starting point

Using a brainstorming activity where we generated apart and combined together, my team came up with a starting point for our game.

• Emotions: awe, wonder
• Setting: long, train ride
• Potential characters: passenger, ghost passengers, conductor
• Level map: train carts
• Types of Fun: discovery, narrative
• Vibe: spooky, cute
• Initial premise: You are on a long train ride. There are ghosts. You interact with the ghosts and develop a friendship with them. By creating relationships with ghosts, you can progress deeper into the train.

My pitch

We then split off to each develop our own sense of how the game should go. The following some visions I developed for our ghost train!

Emotions to invoke

wonder/curiosity

light-heartedness/silly

warm/fuzzy

community/people-centered

Mood Board

Although there are typical “spooky” elements like ghost and the dark, it isn’t scary. The player can feel comfortable in this kind of darkness and ornate beauty. It’s even cute! The inside of the train would feature a more warm, vintage, retro feeling. It would be cozy and home to delightful surprises!

 

Music

The music should mirror the emotional state of the narrative and gameplay, while supporting the theme. I used audio inspiration from Hollow Knight, kid’s Halloween music, and low-fi.

Inspirations

1. Spiritfarer – a game that involves the main character building their relationship with spirits before they move on to the afterlife. Good example of how relationship building with non-playable characters (NPCs) till they reach the “disclosure” point and a story line about helping spirits can go.
2. Hollow Knight – beautiful, cute “spooky” game with a dark, ornate aesthetic.
3. Penko Park – a “spooky,” cute game where you explore an abandoned park and take pictures of the creatures there! I want to mirror the discovery aspect and how they use cute horror.

Key Elements

• Core: You are *insert role* on a train. Because *insert motivation*, you help the *insert characters* on the train. In order to progress through the train and unlock access to the other train carts, you need to develop a relationship with the character in the cart blocking your path. You develop relationships by picking kind dialogue choices when speaking to the character and fulfilling “fetch” quests of items of emotional significance. You find the items by exploring the train. Talking to the characters will cost emotional stamina. In order to refill your emotional stamina, you need to go do self-care activities by accessing the spa or taking a nap or blowing off steam in the billiards room.
• Types of Fun: narrative, sensation (from walking, music), fellowship ( from building friends with ghosts ), discovery, fantasy
• Mechanics
  • Talk to ghosts
    • learn their story and who they are
    • build your friendship with the ghost by answering them in a friendly way that shows you are listening
    • give ghosts hugs and gifts found hidden around the train
  • Emotional Stamina
    • used to talk to ghosts
    • Refills be visiting self-care cars [ spa or billiards/game lounge ]
• Embedded Narrative

Potential Directions for Narrative

1. Ghost Detective
   1. You are the cute ghost who lives on train 42! During train rides you talk to the children and help them out.
2. Random, Kind Person
   1. You help someone with their bag on the train. You take a seat in your train booth and all of a sudden there is a ghost in front of yoU! The ghost is whimsical and thinks you are kind. They would like you to help them locate x item. While accomplishing that task, the other ghosts begin to talk to you too! You spend the rest of the train ride interacting with the ghosts.
3. Ghost Community Healer
   1. There was a tragic accident on a train and ever since then all the souls involved have been stuck on the train. You are a ghost community healer and come by to do your thing, listen to the ghosts, and help them let go of the material world.
4. Junior Parapsychologist
   1. You are a junior parapsychologist and you are 10 years old!
   2. Junior Parapsychologist arrives on the train armed with her new edition of BOO! Weekly and their subscriber gift meant to help build any budding parapsychologist’s kit!
   3. The gift is a pair of glasses that now lets her see ghosts.
   4. To pass the time you help the ghosts by listening to them and bringing them things from around the train.
   5. As the story continues and you meet more ghosts, you realize they all died the same day… and they don’t answer when you ask them about their death and all the clocks and newspaper and everything is frozen to that day 
   6. She realizes that the day of their death is the day she got on the train… and she is stuck there with the,… the goggles never worked… So the ghosts have been sharing stories with you to help pass the time.

My favorite and most complete vision is the junior parapsychologist!

Check out our concept doc here!