P2: The Future We Deserve – Mayshu

Shadows of Luminous

“Haunted by the past, bound to the truth.“

https://mayshu.itch.io/shadows-of-luminous

 

Overview

The game centers on Echo, a young woman who awakens in a post-apocalyptic world strewn with remnants of a powerful institution’s failed experiment, known as Project Luminous. Originally conceived to control population growth and manage reproductive outcomes through genetic modification, this project sought to engineer a stable future. However, as Echo uncovers fragments of her past, she learns that these attempts to control humanity’s survival ironically led to its near extinction. Her journey is one of confronting the consequences of sacrificing individual autonomy for collective goals and questioning the ethics of policies that attempt to dictate life itself.

Project Luminous is inspired by the real-world history of China’s population policies, such as the One-Child Policy introduced in the 1980s, which prioritized economic goals over individual freedoms, ultimately resulting in severe gender imbalances and a declining birth rate. Though modified over time to allow for two and then three children since the mid-2010s, these state-driven measures have continually valued collective objectives over personal rights and autonomy. This game reflects on the unintended and far-reaching consequences of such policies, exploring what happens when the state’s control over reproduction is pushed to the extreme.

In this dystopian world, Project Luminous imagines a society that manipulated human biology in an attempt to create an ideal future, resulting instead in societal collapse. Players, as Echo, navigate through abandoned research facilities, piecing together the hidden truths of a failed experiment that placed control above humanity. Along the way, Echo encounters altered beings, haunting reminders of the lives affected by the experiment and reflections of her own fate.

This game invites players to confront the complex balance between societal goals and individual rights. Through haunting and dystopian settings, and a fragmented narrative, players explore the cost of valuing collective interests at the expense of personal freedoms. Echo’s journey through the ruins of Project Luminous and her encounters with these altered beings underscore the high price of a society that sacrificed autonomy for an engineered vision of its future.

History Versions of the Game

• Playtest 1 Feedback Summary (A CS 377 classmate, an Asian female in her 20s): The player tested the initial prototype and provided valuable feedback, specifically highlighting the need to reduce the word count on each page. She noted that having too much text per page made reading feel tiring, which affected her focus and engagement with the story. Shortening the text on each page may help maintain player immersion and prevent distraction.
• Key Takeaway: Break down lengthy passages into shorter, more digestible segments to improve readability, engagement, and overall immersion.

 

• Playtest 2 FeedbackSummary (A CS 377 classmate, an Asian male in his 20s):

The player tested the first complete version of the game and expressed a strong interest in the plot and themes, especially after learning about the game’s intention to critique China’s reproductive policies and their impact on individual women. Initially, he appreciated the dystopian storyline but found the gameplay to be overly linear, describing it as more akin to reading a story than experiencing an interactive game due to the lack of meaningful choices.

Upon understanding the game’s irony on real-world issues such as forced abortions and the abandonment of girl infants under policies prioritizing men over women, he was deeply impressed. This context helped him connect more personally with the narrative. He suggested including a clearer reference to the real-world issues when players finish the game (shown below), similar to the approach used in the previous version.

• Key Takeaways: Increase interactivity by incorporating more player choices to enhance the feeling of agency and align more closely with an interactive fiction experience; Explicitly reference the real-world implications of China’s reproductive policies at the end of the game to deepen players’ understanding and connections to the historical trauma portrayed.

 

• Playtest 3 FeedbackSummary (A CS 377 classmate, an Asian female in her 20s):The third player tested an updated version of the game, which included additional choices to enhance interactivity. While she appreciated the improvements, she felt that the interaction still needed further refinement. She expressed confusion with the game’s two-level time design, particularly the transition back to the 1970s, and found the character design during this shift unclear. She also felt that the ending—a death loop trapping the avatar in a time circle—was powerful yet created an overwhelming sense of desperation, which, though impactful, may not fully align with the intended critique of real-world issues.

  The two-level design left some areas in the initial level unexplored, affecting the overall logic and continuity of the story. Additionally, the two-level structure made the game feel overly long and affected the pacing. Based on her feedback, I refined the design to take place within a single timeline, with the avatar exploring one cohesive space—a setup similar to escape room mechanics—to thoroughly uncover clues. To strengthen the “game-like” elements, I also incorporated more puzzle mechanics, such as password-solving, to increase engagement and enhance the immersive, interactive experience.

  

 

• Playtest 4 Feedback Summary (CS 377 TA, an Asian female in her 20s): The final player tested the last version of the game and praised the character design of Echo and her mother, as well as the suspenseful atmosphere and engaging puzzle mechanics, especially the password system. However, she noted a few areas for improvement: the function of one NPC was unclear, and the protagonist’s backstory was revealed too early, taking away the satisfaction of discovery. Additionally, the ending felt somewhat rushed due to its single-path structure.
• In response to her feedback, I made several adjustments: Deeper Clue Integration: Key details about Echo’s identity are now buried deeper within the story, allowing players to uncover the truth gradually through exploration rather than being told directly; Enhanced NPC Role: I redesigned the game’s opening to clarify the NPC’s function, positioning them as a more evident guide, helping the player dig for clues and piece together Echo’s backstory; Redesigned Ending: The ending was restructured into a passage-like format, offering a more gradual and satisfying narrative progression rather than delivering the conclusion in a single chunk.

Reflection:

Creating this game has been an evolving process of balancing narrative depth with interactive elements. Initially, I designed the game to explore the impact of controlled reproduction policies, inspired by China’s One-Child Policy and its long-term social effects. I did this by embedding Echo’s journey within a dystopian narrative framework, weaving in themes of autonomy, legacy, and resilience through character interactions and suspenseful exploration.

Through playtesting, I learned that maintaining player immersion requires a careful balance between storytelling and gameplay mechanics. For example, players found that having too much information on a single page broke immersion, so I learned to streamline the wording on each page and incorporate more breaks, giving players time to engage fully without fatigue.

Additionally, I learned that narrative pacing is crucial in mystery-driven games. Early versions revealed Echo’s backstory too soon, which reduced the sense of suspense. Later playtests helped me refine this, hiding clues more subtly throughout the game and allowing players to discover Echo’s identity at their own pace. I also realized that linear gameplay can limit a player’s sense of agency, so I incorporated multiple paths to allow more exploration and choice, creating a more layered experience.

Lastly, playtest feedback about the ending being rushed helped me understand the importance of narrative flow in concluding a game. Therefore, I created a more layered ending, using branching narratives or multiple perspectives to deepen player engagement. This iterative process has taught me how essential feedback and reflection are to creating a balanced, immersive experience that respects both the narrative and the player’s role in uncovering it.

Next time, I’d aim to enhance the interactive fiction by incorporating audio-visual elements to make the experience more multi-sensory and immersive. Using sound, visuals, and perhaps ambient effects could enhance mood, suspense, and emotional engagement, transforming the story into a more dynamic and “gamic” experience.