Brief Two - Urban Legends

Link to google doc

Unnamed Therapist Game
Genre: Hybrid

Platform: PC/Console

Single/Multiplayer: Singleplayer

Core Concept
This game is a 2D psychological/comedy/puzzle/narrative game following the experiences of a therapist whose patients are just a little out of the ordinary.

The game will be made up of a series of vignettes taking place over an undetermined period in the therapist’s life. Each vignette will begin with the therapist preparing for the session i.e. reading patient’s/urban legend’s file, making coffee/other mundane activities. Once a patient arrives, the therapy session begins. The therapist enters dialogue with the legend who will eventually open up about an event in their lives that caused them to seek therapy.

At this stage the therapist “enters the mind” of the legend where the event will literally be “played out” in the form of a mini-game styled after the particular legend. At points during the mini-games gameplay may freeze as the dialogue from the therapy session continues. The dialogue choices/questions the therapist picks during these segments may affect the mini game, making them easier/harder/stranger.

Once the mini-game ends the player is returned to the therapy session which will end positively/negatively/strangely based on how well/badly/strangely the mini-game went.

Each of the vignettes will be self contained however the effects of the supernatural patients may begin to affect the therapist over time potentially changing the ending of the game.

Art Style
Since the game narrative is separated in two main parts (the therapist office and the session/mini games), the art will follow the same logic. The main part of the game will have a detailed side view pixel art style with realistic lighting. The colour theme of the game will be vice and contrasted, in an 80’s American comic book style. Otherwise, each patient’s minigames will have a different art style. It could be 3D or 2D, the camera can be set with different point of views. This is so each minigame can represent the mental world of each character, and their issues, backstory, and their life. Nevertheless, the color palette will remain the same than the one for the main part of the game, in order to keep some uniformity in the art style.

World
World Backstory
 * Monsters / Cryptids and supernatural beings have existed since the dawn of time
 * With the dawn of the information age these beings found it difficult to adapt, and in spite of the creatures’ best efforts Governments around the world steadily learnt of their existence.
 * [Not all Urban Legends are monsters - some are literally just people in costumes, government just trying to pass them off as monsters so it’s not a ‘human’ crime]
 * As their existence became known, the integrated themselves into society
 * Due to some negative opinions from humans around the world, the government imposed a form of witness protection to keep the more monstrous cryptids safe.
 * Recently some of the more violent and dangerous urban legends deliberately leaked footage of themselves showcasing their hidden natures in order to stoke panic and fear in the human populace.
 * “Governments around the world try to save face as urban legends reveal violent natures.” - Daily Mail, September 21st 2015
 * After the exposure of the cryptids, the government had to save face and imposed a therapy regime in order to show people that they had the situation under control and calm the fearful populace.
 * All of the exposed cryptids had to attend these therapy appointments.
 * Psychopathic criminals and murderers have been caught but the government thinks they can get away with lumping them in with the cryptids group therapy since the press is already riled up about their violent tendencies. They ‘hope’ it will rehabilitate them.
 * The remaining cryptids that have not been exposed as violent are also expected to attend the therapy sessions as a way for the government to keep up to date on the.
 * Tensions between humans and cryptids steadily grows in the wake of new schemes
 * Many of the older monsters regret having ‘come out’ from under the bed and resent the control the humans have imposed on their kind.
 * Sections of the monstrous community despise their association with murderers and negative influencers, dividing the community further.

The Clinic
 * Location
 * In centre of average metropolitan city (actual city is left ambiguous)
 * History
 * The clinic is a converted hospice
 * Clinic is used to dealing with standard stuff. After the new legislation, many London clinics are oversubscribed with confidential monsters

Urban Legends / Cryptids
Urban Legends / Cryptids
 * Spring-heeled Jack- A tall, thin and devil-like man who wears a long cloak and a tight fitting white oilskin. He breathes white or blue fire and has metallic claws and can jump around rooftops terrorising people.


 * Bunnyman 1- A man in a bunny costume that jumped in front of cars and smashed them with an axe.


 * Chupacabra- A reptile-like creature that sucks the blood of livestock, specifically goats and has large spines on its back.


 * Slenderman- An unnaturally tall and thin man with a blank face that wears a black suit and terrorises children


 * The vanishing hitchhiker- A hitchhiker that is picked up by couples and vanishes while the car is still in motion.


 * Bunnyman 2- A man that escaped from a mental asylum and hid on a bridge and people started to see half-eaten rabbits and eventually humans dangling from it.


 * The dog boy- A boy who tortured animals in an abandoned house and killed his dad and drove his mother insane.


 * Charlie no-face( the green man)-  A [real] man who received an electrical shock when he was young which burnt off his nose and eyes and left the rest of his body badly scarred. He walked around at night to avoid his appearance causing alarm but people still saw him. Worth reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Robinson_(Green_Man)


 * Le Loyon- A swiss legend of a man in a gas mask and camouflage clothing that walked around woods and when he was caught on camera he committed suicide or at least the character died. Also thought of as a ghost in some stories.


 * The night doctor- An american legend of a man or a group of men wearing white robes (like the KKK but the legend was about before their rise) who would abduct African-americans and experiment on them by injecting them with poisons and toxins.

Gameplay

 * Therapist in office/house
 * Does mundane things
 * makes coffee
 * sharpens their pencil
 * Viewing of surroundings
 * Viewing files of the clients
 * Gives the player insight into the legend/patients history
 * Urban legend shows up
 * Each urban legend will have a customised introduction to add flavour
 * Conversation
 * Very clinical (“So how does that make you feel?”)
 * Not a lot of player choice during conversation
 * In some interactions they could run tests with the clients
 * Sets the tone for the minigame
 * Urban legend mini games
 * The conversation will change and it will then be played through the mini game, for the specific character
 * Depending on what dialogue you choose in the minigame the minigame will change
 * The final result of the minigame will change how the therapy session ends
 * Patient leaves
 * Leaving dialog affected by the outcome of the minigame
 * Leaving scene determined also by which urban legend is the patient