Escape from Dunwich House
A escape room horror where the player is trying to find evidence of their brothers murder
DESIGN GOALS
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Create a fun prototype escape room in 3 weeks while considering narrative & gameplay
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Create a solid and modular prototype for an escape room game in 3 weeks
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Consider the narrative and level design while making mechanics to push the game forward
Learning Outcomes
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I learned how to quickly create simple grey boxes in order to efficiently push through the design process
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I learned the importance of mapping out each area of a level in order to achieve a clean and thought out gameflow
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I learned the basics of narrative gameplay and the importance of environmental storytelling
Escape from Dunwich House
Roles: Gameplay & Level Designer
Month: November 2023 (3 weeks)
Genre: Mystery, horror, escape room
Themes: Horror, trapped, mystery
Platform: PC
Description
This project was a 3 week design sprint where I was given the prompt of "escape room" in order to create a prototype escape room, I decided to take inspiration from cosmic horror and use a basic story trope of trying to catch a loved ones killer.
The main goal was to create a solid foundation prototype that can be built into a finished game with a complexed story & environment
What I did
In this solo project I was focused on level focused mechanics that encouraged the player to look around and explore the environment in order to solve a puzzle in each of the rooms to reach the end of the prototype while considering how the player might react to the narrative and level design in order to solve the puzzles
Finished Game prototype
The Project
Please click the images to expand them and get a description of each one
A collection of ideas for the puzzles and themes of escape rooms that I created after researching
A very basic game flow chart with a finished game in mind
The floorplan for the ground floor of the level which I used to quickly throw together a block out
The blockout taking shape based on the floor plan I created
An example of one of the rooms after I modeled some basic furniture and added some basic lighting
This is the lock mesh that players see throughout the level and acts as the input for the puzzles
This is a lock tumbler that the player inputs the answers to the puzzles to in order to unlock the doors
This is a lock within the prototype with the four tumblers inside indicating to the player that they should be looking for colored shapes
These are four paintings in the starting room each of them have colored shapes which is the answer for one of the locks in the scene
This image is of a player inputting the answers into a lock in order to open the desk draw
This is a picture of the key to the kitchen which is shown through the matching texture
This is the hallway door its lock has a specific texture on it that serves as a clue to the puzzle
This is a key puzzle where the player must pick up the correct key matching the one to the hallway
Throughout the level the player can find statues hidden in cupboards and draws these will be used later
These are clues for the player to unlock a door to the study
When the player runs the bath shower and sink in the bathroom the room steams up and a maths equation reveals itself on the mirror the answer to which unlocks the washing room door
The four statues are in the players hotbar ready to be used for a puzzle
When the statues are put on a bookshelf the bookshelf slides open to reveal a secret room
this is the secret room the cube on the table represents the evidence that the player needs to capture their brothers killer
Overview
What worked:
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I created a completeable escape room with multiple different puzzles and creative clues to ensure the player explores the environment and pays attention to their surroundings
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I was able to quickly plan, concept and create a basic blockout & a low poly modular furniture set in less than a week that gave me more time to focus on intiricate details such as the puzzle clues, story and mechanics
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I built a solid foundation for an escape room which given more time can be developed into a full game with core focus on the narrative, environment and story
What could have been improved:
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Not all of the clues were very clear, if I were to continue developing this project I would add hints and voicelines to help guide the player through each puzzle without giving the answer away
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Time constraints were a big problem during this project, given more time I would have liked to add more horror elements into the scene such as dimming the lighting adding cosmic horror elements and ambient noises