Team 3 – Concept Doc – The Mechanics of Magic

Team members: Zinnia Cooperrider, Amy Chang, Sherry Yan, Blain Engeda, David Fang

Background

Your older sister and you have had very different lives. Your mother died when you were young, and your dad has had to work more to provide for both of you alone. In your mother’s absence, your sister had to fill the role. But none of that really meant anything to you as a child. All you knew is that you had everything you needed. Eventually, you leave for college and start a life. Today you have a good job and a good husband. What could go wrong?

Characters

You – a 32 year old married woman with a tough job but a comfortable life. You moved out of your childhood town for college.

Sister – 38 years old working a dead-end job in the town she was raised in.

Dad – Now elderly, he once worked multiple jobs to feed his two girls alone after his wife died, leaving him in financial duress.

Mom – Died when you were young, but was once loving and kind. Everything seemed happier when she was around.

Husband – Your husband who you met at college. A successful man with a good job.

Gameplay

Take on the role of a woman waking up with amnesia in her childhood bedroom. All you have is a box of items from the past your sister collected to help you remember. Dig through clues and put together the pieces as to how you ended up here, and what sinister secrets lie in wait.

Complete Plot (Contains spoilers!)

Having not had contact with your sister for many months, you decide to go back to your hometown to confront her. When you finally find her, she is nothing like you remember. Working a dead end job and taking care of your elderly father, she’s become bitter. After an altercation, she pushes you, causing you to hit your head on a rock.

Wrought with guilt, she brings you back to your childhood home where she still lives. But when you wake up not remembering a thing, she hatches a plan that might just keep her out of trouble and re-write the past at the same time.

She collects documents from the house, doctoring them ever so slightly to remove any hint of turmoil between the two of you. But time’s not on her side, and you wake up before she’s fully done.

You’ll sift through the documents that paint a picture of your loving sister and point at your recent relationship and mental health problems as the culprit of your amnesia, until you come across a locked box left behind accidentally.

Unlock the box to find the truth. Will you turn your sister in, or forgive her for the past?

What’s in the Box

Note from sister – half written, incomplete
Your wallet
1. Your ID
2. 2-3 fake cards
3. A little picture of your husband on your wedding day
Second Box – not locked
1. A phone with your sister’s number saved
2. Family plotline
  1. Little girl’s diary
    1. Details when her mother died, and her dad got busy, and how her sister has to take care of her now
    2. Explains how writing physical letters is a thing you like to do with your sister
    3. You write about getting the toy
  2. College merch / acceptance letter
  3. Memorabilia with name of town where you live
  4. Sister’s checks from job – dated to when she should be too young to work
3. Personal plotline
  1. Pill bottles – two bottles with different dosage on different dates
  2. Notes from therapist
    1. Talks about your anxiety, how your work is too hard, your childhood trauma, relationship strain for all of the above
  3. Letter from the fertility clinic
  4. Pictures of you and your husband at college
Small locked box – found in room
1. Letters you wrote to your sister
  1. She never replies – they get increasingly more desperate
  2. Last letter is you saying you’re coming home
2. Something sentimental from mom
3. Husband’s phone number – unlocks good ending
Other items in the room, not in your sister’s box
1. Child’s toy

Endings

Texting your sister before you unlock the locked box, telling her that you think the amnesia was an accident.
Unlocking the box and texting your husband for help.
1. Tell him it was your sister who pushed you, or blame your medication and cover for your sister.

Tones

The game’s atmosphere and tone are shaped by an array of influences that blend elements of dark horror with fantasy, aiming to create an immersive and unsettling narrative experience. These influences are carefully chosen to evoke a sense of dread and wonder.

Literary Influences:

Clive Barker: Mastery of horror and fantasy, with an emphasis on dark, imaginative tales such as those in “Books of Blood.”
Neil Gaiman: Blending the mythical with the macabre, as seen in “The Sandman” series, which explores dark dreams and ancient myths.
Shirley Jackson: Psychological horror and eerie narratives, especially in “The Haunting of Hill House,” which delves into the supernatural and the psyche.
Angela Carter: Fairy tales reimagined with a gothic twist, as in “The Bloody Chamber,” where traditional stories are infused with darkness and sensuality.
H.P. Lovecraft: Cosmic horror and the fear of the unknown, particularly in “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” showcasing a world where reality becomes increasingly distorted.

Cinematic Influences:

Gothic and Atmospheric Films:
- “Crimson Peak” and “The Witch” for their lush visuals paired with haunting narratives.
- Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” for its fusion of brutal historical reality with dark fantastical elements.
- “The Others” for its suspenseful, ghostly story set within a dimly lit, oppressive environment.
Films with Dark Fantasy Elements:
- “Dark City” and “The City of Lost Children” for their surreal, dream-like urban landscapes and complex, dark storytelling.

Television Influences:

“American Horror Story” for its stylistic depiction of horror themes across different eras and settings.
“Penny Dreadful” for its literary-based horror stories that weave together characters from classic horror literature in a dark Victorian setting.

Game Influences:

“Bloodborne” and “Dark Souls” for their challenging gameplay, deep lore, and the pervasive sense of dread and decay in their world design.
“Alice: Madness Returns” for its dark reinterpretation of the Alice in Wonderland story, combining psychological elements with fantastical horror.

These influences craft a game environment where the boundaries between horror and fantasy blur, creating a deeply engaging and chilling player experience.