Synopsis

The Vessel is a psychological sci-fi horror game set aboard a damaged spaceship drifting in deep space. Players assume the role of Vic, the ship’s captain who unknowingly becomes the host of an alien parasite. As the days unfold and crewmembers die, relationships fracture, and the line between reality and hallucination blurs, players must navigate suspicion, grief, and truth.

Setting

The Story takes place on a spaceship that is on its way back to the mothership after a failed mission and brief communication blackout. The game progresses over six in-game days as the player explores not only the physical ship but the emotional landscape of the crew. As relationships fracture and trust erodes, the player gains deeper access to character-specific spaces.

Tone

Inevitable

The parasite in The Vessel spreads silently, not through violence, but through proximity. We want players to feel the weight of inevitability, not in explosive action, but in slow, irreversible change. Like a fever that won’t break, or a memory you can’t shake, the tension builds as days pass, and each choice becomes more difficult to undo.

Intimate

Relationships between characters—lovers, siblings, friends—are at the heart of the game, and the horror comes not just from loss, but from the desperate effort to hold onto one another in the face of rising fear and impossible choices. Players will share quiet moments: a conversation in the kitchen, a gift that never had the chance to be given, a soft lie told to protect someone. These interactions are meant to feel intimate and personal, connecting the player emotionally even as the situation spirals beyond anyone’s control.

Unstable We want the world to reflect Vic’s declining mental state. By day, the ship appears calm, structured, rational. By night, it shifts. Familiar rooms don’t line up the way they used to. We want players to question not just what’s real, but whether what they do is real. The goal is not to jump-scare the player, but to erode their certainty over time.

Gameplay

Our game is a 2D narrative-driven psychological horror game that blends relationship exploration, light puzzle-solving, and mental degradation mechanics across six tightly structured in-game days.

The player takes on the role of Vic, the infected protagonist, navigating a side-scrolling spaceship environment that feels increasingly oppressive as the infection takes hold. Core gameplay unfolds through:

• Dialogues and choices that shape relationships and unlock different story paths.
• Environmental storytelling via interactable objects, hidden logs, and subtle scene details.
• Puzzle sequences embedded in ship systems, personal memory fragments, or coded medical notes.
• Day-night transitions, with nighttime triggering eerie hallucinations or hidden events.

Concept and Plot Info!

The Vessel (1)

SpotifyVessel​

Character Profiles

Fortitude

Role: Protagonist / Infected Host

Age: Mid-20s

Personality: Calm, dependable, prone to hesitation in emotionally intense moments.

Key Traits:

Struggles to stay rational as parasite takes hold.

Subtly unreliable narrator — what he perceives is often distorted after infection.

Displays subconscious aggression/protectiveness toward Sarah in later stages.

Narrative Function:

The player’s perspective into the unraveling horror.

Embodies the “tragic inevitability” theme — even as he fights it, infection overtakes him.

Hidden Side:

Deep fear of losing control, expressed through avoidant behavior and denial.

Liam

Prudence

Die in Day 2 Night

Role: Ship Doctor / Rational Observer / Moral Bystander

Age: Early 30s

Personality: Reserved, repressed, highly rational with underlying emotional turbulence.

Key Traits:

Highly professional and detail-oriented — keeps meticulous medical records and takes his duty seriously.

Struggles with his own moral boundaries when faced with John’s infection — ultimately breaks them to “do what’s necessary.”

Emotionally distant in public, but shows subtle tenderness in private (such as bringing John flowers as quiet affection).

Avoids direct confrontation but manipulates situations in subtle ways to keep order or minimize chaos.

Narrative Function:

Represents rationality compromised by emotion and survival instinct.

His choices (hiding infection risk, secretly feeding infected John) reveal the limits of clinical detachment in crisis.

His death triggers major shifts in group dynamics and serves as the catalyst for John’s final collapse.

Represents the “doomed caretaker” archetype.

Hidden Side:

Had unspoken feelings for John, repressed due to circumstance and professionalism.

John

Diligence

Die at Day 3 Night

Role: Reckless Friend / First to Fall

Age: Early 20s

Personality: Loud, impulsive, easygoing on surface but insecure underneath.

Key Traits:

Quickly falls victim to parasite, becoming unknowingly dangerous.

At moments shows guilt and grief (post-Liam scene) hinting deeper sensitivity.

Volunteers to be tied up and killed when realizing the truth.

Narrative Function:

First turning point of horror (parasite revealed).

Symbol of how recklessness + denial leads to tragic downfall.

3

Hidden Side:

Possibly reciprocated Liam’s feelings deep down, but was too afraid to face them.

Emily

Temperance

Die at Day 1 Night

Role: Sister / First Victim / Catalyst

Age: Early 20s

Personality: Outgoing, kind, idealistic, emotionally driven.

Key Traits:

Always tried to mend her relationship with Emma, but often came off as insincere.

Naive about danger, which leads to her being the first to die.

Her death triggers the group’s collapse and Emma’s transformation.

Narrative Function:

Catalyst for paranoia and breakdown of trust.

Represents lost innocence and the broken sibling bond.

Hidden Side:

Despite kindness, tended to overlook deeper emotional wounds.

Her optimistic approach was part of what alienated Emma.

Emma

Justice

Either Suicide at Day 5 Night, or survive

Role: Cold Survivor / Wild Card

Age: Early 20s

Personality: Distant, harsh, calculating, emotionally restrained.

Key Traits:

Harbors deep resentment toward Evin due to family trauma.

Becomes highly suspicious and aggressive after Evin’s death.

Either ends her own life (suicide branch) or coldly executes Vic (Ending 1).

Narrative Function:

Morally ambiguous judge figure (could be ally or executioner).

Her survival status directly shapes possible endings.

Hidden Side:

Despite harshness, deeply craves control and justice — suicide or killing Vic is her way of reclaiming agency.

🧑‍🚀 Sarah

Charity

Role: Girlfriend / Enabler / Final Anchor

Age: Mid-to-late 20s

Personality: Warm, gentle, but emotionally fragile, yet ultimately resilient and decisive.

Key Traits:

Hides the truth about Vic’s infection out of love and fear, but gradually accepts the terrible truth.

Crosses moral lines (feeding Vic, covering up Noah’s death).

When intimacy becomes survival, shows a twisted but unwavering devotion.

Narrative Function:

Represents love corrupted by necessity — neither innocent nor purely pathological.

Final emotional bond that decides Vic’s final path (protective urge vs. devouring urge).

Hidden Side:

Not fearful or delusional, but deeply accepting of destruction if it means being together.

Her love is not fragile, but resolutely tragic — she consciously chooses to stand with Vic until the very end, regardless of what he becomes.

🧒 Noah

Hope

Die at Day 4 Night

Role: Innocent Child / Symbol of Lost Future

Age: Just turned 18

Personality: Naive, stubborn, wants to prove himself.

Key Traits:

Seeks involvement in serious matters (John execution).

Represents the last shred of innocence on the ship.

Devoured unknowingly by Vic in sleepwalking state.

Narrative Function:

His death marks Vic’s true fall into monstrosity.

Sarah’s reaction (feeding Vic Noah’s remains) shows full descent into moral collapse.

Hidden Side:

None — meant to be tragically pure, his death purely symbolic.

Character Relation Map

Timeline & Plot Detail

Here’s a quick summary of each of the plot and narrative developed. To view and experiment with the various plot details in depth, explore this Web App CYOA Game containing all of the narrative developed so far: STRANDED. A list of planned possible endings is below.

Day	Core Events	Character Focus	Key Player Experience
Day 1	Routine patrol, infection unknowingly begins; [hidden: John kills Evin]	John, Doctor (Liam)	Build relationships, subtle dread and foreshadowing
Day 2	Evin disappears, John kills Liam, suspicions rise	Girlfriend (Sarah), John, Emma	Breakdown of trust, paranoia begins
Day 3	John mutates, execution scene, first direct kill	Girlfriend (Sarah), Child (Noah), John	Emotional shock, forced to confront monstrousness
Day 4	Player realize Vic infected, Sarah starts covering up, Vic kills Noah	Noah, Girlfriend (Sarah), Sister (Emma)	Moral collapse, irreversible descent, Sarah’s dark turn
Day 5	Noah missing, false hope, Sarah restrains Vic, intimacy turns twisted	Girlfriend (Sarah), Sister (Emma)	Psychological horror, intimacy vs. primal hunger, player critical choice point
Day 6	Arrival, parasite takes over, final branching endings (devour/protect/sacrifice)	Girlfriend (Sarah), Sister (Emma)	Final consequence of choices, fate sealed: survival or tragedy

Endings & Branches of the Story

The story branches based on your choices, each leading to a unique fate shaped by the infection and the parasite’s grip. Here are the key outcomes:

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Branch 1: Sarah Did Not Tell the Truth

• Sarah keeps the infection secret, trying to protect you. This results in losing control during the return to the mothership as the parasite overtakes you.

  • 👉 Branch 1-1: Shot Down (Ending 1 — Shot Down)

    • Emma Alive

    • Emma shoots you down to stop the parasite’s spread.

    • Sarah Alive

  • 👉 Branch 1-2: Devoured (Ending 2 — Devoured)

    • Emma Suicide

    • The parasite forces you to kill Sarah, and you board the mothership as a monster.

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Branch 2: Sarah Tells the Truth

• Sarah reveals the truth about the infection, giving you the chance to make a crucial decision.

  • 👉 Branch 2-1: You Refuse to Infect Her

    • You stay behind on the patrol ship, while Sarah and Emma return to the main ship.

    • Tragic Ending: You sacrifice yourself by igniting the ship’s thrusters to contain the parasite.

  • 👉 Branch 2-2: You Choose to Infect Her

    • Together, you and Sarah stay behind, while Emma takes the data and leaves a dire warning.

    • Bittersweet Ending: Over time, you both lose your humanity, but you hold onto the memory of each other with a final message: “At least I still remember who you are.”

Links to individual concept docs!

Olivia: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/05/individual-team-member-deliverables-checkpoint-1/

Alex: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/05/individual-concept-doc-4/

Victor: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/05/individual-concept-doc-victor-chen/

Cecilia: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/05/individual-team-member-deliverables-checkpoint-1-2/

Sue: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/06/individual-team-member-deliverables-checkpoint-1-sue-shen/

Richard: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/06/individual-team-member-deliverables-checkpoint-1-4/