Emotions: dread, awe, grief from the vastness of the universe
Moodboard (featured image): fractals, Lovecraftian body horror, spooky monster, space exploration, retro black and white pixel (inspiration from Mars after Midnight, Uzumaki, and Look Outside)
Playlist: in search, in awe, in vain… strings and 8-bit
Directions of the game:
- A lonely explorer in space finding the next habitable planet for their civilization. Lands on pleasant yet eerie planet, populated with fractals… tree branches, lightnings, spiraling shells… Through exploration, they scan items—remnants of the past civilization—and uncover the Lovecraftian fractal gods that govern. But it’s too late to escape. Their circulatory system, their neurons, the spiraling thoughts… all in the shape of fractals, all feel the calling of this geometric horror… The main mechanic would be moving around discovering items, with prestructured mise-en-scene cutscenes revealing the fractal entities. Fun of discovery, fantasy, narrative. Grand, spooky vibes.
- Built on the narrative of direction 1: perhaps instead of the main mechanic being exploration and collecting items, we have the protagonist run from the fractals and fight them, with some sort of combat system. The items they collect could be weapons. Each level would be a different fractal shape. Fun of challenge and submission. Less geometric horror, and the fractal would be mainly for level design.
- Instead of fractal gods, the lonely explorer uncovers the story of a civilization lost to its own greed. They traverse the abandoned church, weapons manufacturer, dilapidated schools, only to discover that the original inhabitants have long gone extinct, and only “monsters” roam around. The twist is that the “monsters” are actually indigenous to the planet, and the greedy species were colonizers that fell by their own demise. The explorer can gather items to uncover the stories behind the fallen civilization, piecing together their massive religious-military-industrial complex, and befriend the space creatures who are rebuilding the planet toward a brighter future. Fun of discovery, fantasy, narrative. Pensive, hopeful vibes, deeper on the social commentary.
