“This school was shut down for a reason. May the sins of this place never be repeated again.”
Pitch
My game proposal, Turtleneck Boy in Kana’a Academy is an adventure-puzzle game with an emphasis on creating an atmosphere of unease and dread. Playing as a young boy in a turtleneck sweater, you get to explore the labyrinthian hallways of Kana’a Academy, piecing together the school’s history along the way. What secrets will you find? What experiments will you uncover? What’s compelling you to explore this place? All these answers and more are will be covered in class…
The gargantuan library of Kana’a Academy
Gameplay
The game is akin to games like Abzu or Journey, which are about exploration and discovery, and less about testing the gameplay skill of players. In addition, it will have an oppressive and “you-aren’t-safe” atmosphere, comparable to Spooky’s House of Jumpscares. The big difference is that the players have much less freedom of movement–they are playing as but a small child. This also helps create tension–players might hear unsettling noises or walk into uncomfortable areas, but since the character they’re playing is so under-equipped, players have a strong feeling of powerlessness against the unknown. Aside from exploration segments, players might also encounter puzzles, simple ones like finding the right lever to open a room, or figuring out the code to open a safe.
Turtleneck Boy
There is one human character with screentime: Turtleneck Boy himself. He’s from the local orphanage, and has been there since he seemingly showed up at the age of six. Another six years later, and people still have an unusually hard time recalling his real name. His only identifiable trait is the fact that he’s always seen wearing the same olive-green turtleneck sweater, hence the nickname. What people don’t recognize about him is that he has direct connections to the now defunct Kana’a Academy–in fact, he might just be the son of the last director of the school. The circumstances of his birth are still mysterious, and Turtleneck Boy’s journey to find out what happened is just beginning.
Kana’a Academy
Once the most prestigious and renowned boarding school in not just New England but the entire world, Kana’a Academy was shut down after a slew of human rights abuse and corruption cases got released to the public. It’s cutthroat curriculum still has a lasting mental imprint on Kana’a alumni. Students were constantly envying each other’s academic accomplishments, to the point of violence. Rumors of death cults and human experimentation still exist in grocery store tabloids. And yet, one can’t deny how influential the institution was; some of the greatest geniuses in history graduated from the school. A handful of students were brought down for the rest of humanity to be brought up. The numerous incidents that occurred within the campus’s walls might be lost again to time–if it weren’t for this one nosy twelve-year-old in a turtleneck.
Style
My game is heavily inspired by the “dark academia” aesthetic, which creates an idealized vision of education as a whole, complete with “intellectual-looking” outfits and Gothic/Victorian architecture. Colors are generally muted, and the game will already look quite dark, to fit with the horror themes. I’ll also be influenced by artstyles such as that of DEEMO, with it’s fantastical designs, and Alice Schach and the Magic Orchestra, with how it combines stylized designs with dark and even disturbing details.
I love the style references you have and I’m excited to see how you build the atmosphere of your environment. How do you think you will help convey the feelings of powerlessness while exploring? Will there be specific gameplay mechanics to support this idea or will you just make use of the atmosphere?
Mostly making use of the atmosphere, using the larger scale of the school to contrast against the relatively tiny Turtleneck Boy.
The overall concept and the reference images you picked out makes reminds me of the Danganronpa games, at least stylistically. I had never heard of Deemo before, but the art-style is very striking with the way it’s stylized. Do you intend to go more stylized with your artwork, as well?
I clicked post a little to quickly and I meant to add: How do you plan to combine these predominately 2D styles with the 3D work we’ll be making in this class?
I plan to create really stylized 3D models, using shaders to control the game’s look.
I like the idea of limiting the player’s movement ability through the design of the character itself. How do you plan to to make exploration interesting? Will it mostly be knowledge checkpoints? Or finding items/abilities that let you progress?
Knowledge checkpoints are how the game mostly works–I don’t plan to give Turtleneck Boy any more abilities other than walking around and interacting with stuff.
This is a really cool concept, and you seem to have your themes/art inspiration nailed down super well! The dark academia aesthetic is super intriguing and it matches well with a game from a child’s perspective. As in those 1st-person screenshot/mockups, are you planning on using light/darkness as a mechanic? like the character carries a lantern/flashlight and can’t see beyond their sphere of light?
I’m still deciding on how to use darkness in the game, but I might end up giving Turtleneck Boy a personal light.
The underlying unease in your concept is really interesting and could easily hook a player in as they try and get to the bottom of the mystery. Will there be any items or power-ups the player could get as they progress or would it be more little nightmares where u work with what u got?
I’m super interested to find out more about Turtleneck Boy’s backstory and where he comes from. I think this concept is really intriguing. My question is if you will incorporate the main character’s small size and young age into the game any more than you have already mentioned? I think there are some really interesting avenues you could explore with this idea!
Turtleneck Boy’s young age is mostly an aesthetic choice, although you can argue that pre-teens are more likely to make bad decisions (i.e. exploring decrepit ruins) than fully grown adults.
I like the concept of playing as a child in an abandoned school with a dark past, it feels like the worst place he could be! Do you plan on playing around with environment scaling and camera angle/distance to really sell the imposing environment and sense of smallness?
The style you picked for the art captures dark and uneasy vibes very nicely. Will Turtleneck Boy have some sort of sanity or health bar to make the player even more uneasy?
I love the dark moody atmosphere you’re proposing as well as the character design. If the game world is meant to feel labrynthian, how will you make the game space big enough without letting your scope get too big?
I love how the player of the game, a young curious boy, contrasts with the overall atmosphere of the area. Will the game take place in the whole school are is only a few rooms going to be open?
I like the use of a horror labyrinth in conjunction with a player protagonist with limited stature or ways of defending themself. Are you planning on having any threatening forces or entities besides the atmosphere of the game?