Brief 2- Urban Legends

Progression Design
As the player progresses through the game they require something to signify that they are progressing through the game. In this game the player conducts almost all of the game-play from one single space, thus the progression for the player will be signified through; the interior design of the room, sound and minor visual changes to the way they perceive objects and images.

During down time periods the player will be completing mundane tasks such as;

·        Drinking coffee

·        Reading the paper

·        Objects in the room

·        Waiting in a chair

·        Looking over files

These mundane tasks are here to contrast the strange characters that they interact with. However these tasks are also used to track the progression of the game.

Indicators of progression as the player completes mini-games and talks with the urban legends are:

Coffee:
Surface of the coffee will change its shape, changing form from normal coffee to more and more disturbing images. These will range from images that appear to be related to who some of the urban legends they have met to images such as deformed skulls or even will have images that will be similar to something that is read in the newspapers later on in the games progression. These references in the newspapers will be hints about the player character.

Objects in the room:
Rorschach test on the wall will be changing between the meetings with the urban legends. Slowly it will start to form shapes that are a more disturbing and more suggestive of negative themes. Towards the end of the game they will also start to be similar and make reference to events happening in the newspapers.

Reading the paper:
Between sessions the front page of the newspaper can be read which will display stories of past urban legends that have come in to the sessions. Towards the end of the game the player will start to read about a different urban legend who seems to be a mix of the others they have encountered. This will be foreshadowing the end of the game when they player finds out that they have gone insane and they themselves are now in fact an urban legend.

Looking over files:
While the player progresses through the game, between talking to the urban legends they can look over files related to the one they are going to be talking to that day and if they have time, they can look at other ones. A new file will start to fill up over time with new information but will not give enough to be able to make a link till the end of the game that the urban legend in that file is actually the player character.

Waiting in chair:
When the player is read for the session to start they can sit down in the chair that they conduct the therapy sessions from. While in the chair they can observe and hear things around them. This gives the possibility for them to see or hear things outside their window which would be in reference to other urban legends. As this gets further into the game they will see and hear worse things happening outside. Such as people being attacked in the street or people screaming.

During the final stages of the game the player will be aware that they have progressed to the end stages of the game as they will appear to be in a different room with soft padding walls, while in a strait jacket, they will slowly realise that they are now talking with a therapist. As the therapist asks them questions that they used to ask earlier in the game such as “how does that make you feel?” The player will then start their own mini-game all about their own story which will be a combination of assets and art styles from the other various mini-games played earlier in the game.