Mood: Mystery
The setting of our game is on a university campus. And because our game revolves around a mystery, I thought a dark academia aesthetic would best fit the tone. Thus, I tried to include images of gothic architecture and darker-colored decorations.
Playlist:
Directions
Premise: The main premise of our game is that the player is a university student that lives with a roommate. However, the player discovers that their roommate is missing, and it probably has something to do with a cult that they have been researching.
Gameplay: Our game would be transmedia and consist of an escape box that contains puzzles and a digital device where the passwords from the solved puzzles could be inputted. After all puzzles have been solved, players can put in the final password and win the game.
Types of fun:
- Narrative: Since our game involves uncovering a mystery, it will naturally contain a narrative structure. The story can be told as information is revealed once the puzzles are solved, when the puzzles are initially presented, or both. Either way, the puzzles should fit the setting of a university and add to the immersion.
- Challenge: Each puzzle will serve as an obstacle to the player’s victory. We may make it so that players cannot move on to a new puzzle without solving the last one. We can also make it so that any puzzle can be completed at any time, but all puzzle solutions are required to input the final password on the digital device.
- Fellowship: he game could potentially be played by multiple people at the same time. Players can work together to solve the puzzles and learn the truth behind the roommate’s disappearance.
Narrative Options:
- The cult has special privileges, and your roommate was getting too close to the truth. The cult decided to abduct them and now you must find their secret lair so you can save your roommate.
- Your roommate has actually joined the cult themself and went missing because they were doing the initiation process. But now that you know about the cult (you saw their research), they have locked you away and now you must escape.
- With the help of your roommate’s research, you were able to join the cult yourself and must prove yourself. This is done by a collection of puzzles that they have given you. Once solved, you find out where your roommate is and are able to set them free.
