Working Title: aMIdST
You wake up in an unfamiliar foggy bedroom, and you can’t seem to remember who you are or how you got here. You realize that you must uncover the mystery of your identity in order to escape the fog surrounding you.
Synopsis
The game is a narrative about finding the main character’s identity and story.
The main protagonist is a faceless, unidentified person.
The game begins with the protagonist waking up in their bedroom, with light fog in the room and heavier fog in the surroundings. As they uncover haunting information about their past, parts of the fog clear and they can explore additional places in the cottage.
The game takes place over the course of a day, with “time limits” enforced by the fog; take too long, and the fog will start to close in. Touching the fog will decrease the health of the player, so they must take on the role of the protagonist to solve the mystery of their identity before the fog takes over.
The game ends when the player makes a difficult decision after uncovering all aspects of their past and present.
Tone
The audio-visual experience will get progressively eerier. The mystery and suspenseful narrative will keep players engaged with the both story and game environment.
We plan to focus on three main emotions to create an overall suspenseful tone:
Eeriness. Through environmental and mechanic-built ambience we want to create a sense of unease.
Anticipation. This unease will keep players engaged and anticipating the next step in the narrative.
Surprise. The players’ anticipation pays off as they’re shocked/amazed/horrified by what they discover.
What We Mean by “Self”
Our narrative takes a look into what you chose to incorporate into your sense of self. When our protagonist is faced with new information that comes from “themself”, their idea of who they are can become hazy. Without the memory of previous actions, do those actions still make up oneself? Can they separate the “self” from before the fog and after?
It’s ultimately about the uncertainty that surrounds who we were, who we are, and who we can become.
The Setting
- The game takes place in an abandoned cottage house by the sea. Players can exit the cottage house anytime but they are limited to exploring only the vicinity of the house.
Gameplay
- Gameplay will consist of walking and interacting with in-game game objects like notes and doors to uncover more about this mystery.
- We may include health as a resource, which is decreased whenever the player touches/interacts with the fog. We will also incorporate time as a resource, which is strengthened by the threat of the fog when time runs out.
Tone References
Literature
- A Series of Unfortunate Events
- HP Lovecraft
Games
- Phasmophobia
- Rusty Lake Cube Escape Games
- Dear Esther
- Death Stranding
Movies
- The Mist
TV
- Black Mirror (White Bear)
- Twilight Zone
- Stranger Things
- Chloe (finding out what happened to friend by impersonating them)
Key Challenges for Design
- Making sure the narrative flows
- Ensuring there is a way for a player to become “unstuck”
- NPC
Key Challenges for Tech
- Implementing certain niche game elements like fog or adversarial characters/NPCs with existing Roblox tools
Key Challenges for Art
- We need to ensure that the art assets used in the levels help to display an aura of fear and suspense.
- This may be especially challenging with the Roblox game engine, as the assets usually found in games using it are not often used in traditional horror settings
Who is this for?
- 15+, solo thrill-lovers
- The game will have elements of suspense and horror which may not be suitable for younger children
- The game is for people who enjoy exploration and narrative rather than action and competition
