Game world and setting: 

The game will take place in an upper class house at a remote location in a slightly more technologically advanced future. In this world, technology has advanced in a reasonable and realistic way. Sci-fi elements that might make appearances in the game are holograms, automated home systems, and advanced home robotics.

Characters and Key Objects:

Main Character – The player will play as an intern/employee who has come to visit their boss’s home to retrieve a set of files

Robot Home Caretaker – the house will be equipped with a robotic caretaker that tends to the chores around the house. This character will be modeled roughly off of SPOT by Boston Dynamics. After the player is at the house, the security system will malfunction, causing this caretaker to become a hostile sentry. The caretaker will roam the house looking for any intruders and attempt to exterminate them. The caretaker will also be virtually indestructible as it is marketed for a wide variety of tasks, including industrial applications.

Player’s Boss – A wealthy tech tycoon who has little regard for his employees. This character will be very barely seen and will ultimately die very early in the game causing the player to be alone in the house with the robot.

Player Objectives:

The player’s overall goal will be to get out of the house safely after it has locked down, without being killed by the robot. To do this, they will need to disable the high tech security system that their boss has implemented using functions of the automated house. Secondarily, the player will be hunted by the robot during the entire time that they are in the house, so as a secondary objective, they will need to attempt to not be detected by the robot. Some possible tasks for the player could be to hinder the robot by getting a can of spray paint to cover its sensors. Another could be to temporarily disable the system to give the player a moment of rest. Other objectives to get out of the house might include finding your boss (who will be found dead), finding the documentation on the system, locating the shut down passwords, and finally shutting down the system in the basement.

Game Style / Player Experience:

The intended style for this game would be a sci-fi thriller, similar to the Alien: Isolation game. The player should feel suspense and fear during their time playing.

Game Mechanics:

The main game mechanic will be stealth as the player has to navigate the house without being detected by the robot. This can also include diversions by making noises in other locations, hindering the robot using objects like paint, or using elements of the house to distract the robot like turning on the gas on the stove.

Other game mechanics would include the robot’s ability to use the house to its advantage. Some elements that the robot could change are room temperatures, locking doors, fireplaces, lights, and machines in the house.

The player will also not be able to directly injure the robot but can hinder it. If the robot catches them then it will kill them without fail.

Gameplay highlights/hooks/features:

Some interactable features may include: fireplace, stove, thermostats, digital locks.

Main hooks: After looking for your boss you find that he is dead, and you realize that you will need to find the code to his office safe to retrieve the passkeys to disable the security system.

Intended audience:

Age range would be teens and up. This would likely target those that enjoy horror/thriller games and sci-fi themes. My intent is to appeal to this audience by showing some possible negatives of higher end robotics by making the game interesting yet believable as a future.

Art style description: 

•Genre tropes: Horror / Thriller, suspense

•Realism/stylization: realistic robotic expectations,  realistic but grungy

•Color: muted, darker colors

•Light/Shadow: largely dark with lots of shadow

•Shapes and Lines: grungy and uncertain feeling

•Depth: realistic depth 

•Space: mostly open concept rooms with smaller rooms intermingled

•Texture: clean but grungy/sketchy in areas with high suspense

•Perspective and player view: first player

•Season, time of day: winter, late evening into night

Reference Images / Mood Board

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