General Game Ideas and Mechanics:
Carbon Monoxide and Mould Poisoning
A game where you have a meter that is affected by carbon monoxide or mould? The higher this meter is the player begins to have different experiences.
For example, black mould can create memory loss so maybe if the player's black mould poison meter gets too high the map begins to change as if the player has forgotten where they are. Or maybe the player is moved to a different part of the map without them realizing how they got there.
Carbon Monoxide poisoning results in weakness and lack of energy which could be translated into the player moving slower.
Hallucinations can also occur with carbon monoxide poisoning. Maybe the player begins to see different things, such as monsters or new parts of the map that they couldn't access before. This could be similar to the Insanity Meter in Don't Starve where if the player's mental health bar gets low enough then shadow people can begin to attack the player.
Sleep Paralysis (EDIT: THE IDEA I WENT FOR)
In my research, I found that sleep paralysis could be caused by disrupted sleep patterns, insomnia and PTSD. Perhaps unusual sleep paralysis associated events could happen in-game (being unable to move or speak, seeing shadow people) depending on what time the player rests or enters an area of the map (time and sleep patterns), the player's lack of resting in-game (insomnia) or by seeing items in-game that signify a trauma for the character. Alternatively, maybe the player sees monsters at certain times of day, or if they haven't slept for a while.
Game Ideas that Directly Affect the Player:
I like the idea of having mechanics that can influence the player's emotions and experience. Hopefully, I can use my research on psychological and physical reasons that people experience paranormal events to create similar feelings within my game.
Sleep Paralysis and Time
In my research, I found that experiences associated with sleep paralysis could be triggered by disrupted sleep cycles. Perhaps altered thinking could be induced by creating a game that uses real-time events.
The dating mobile game Mystic Messenger takes place in real-time. Characters call and text you at different points in the game. If you're not in a chatroom then the conversation continues without you, if you don't pick up the phone then you miss the call.
Getting calls or text in the middle of the night could make the player feel unsettled. Having a game encroach on your real-time could feel invading and create a sense of paranoia, which would be effective for a horror game.
Feeling Trapped and Scale
IN my research I looked at how feeling trapped can create a feeling of claustrophobia and unease. Perhaps I could use the scale of surroundings to make players feel uncomfortable. For example, a long corridor that gradually gets smaller and smaller, but there's only one way to go forwards.
I recently watched The Descent which is a 2005 British adventure horror film. The movie centres around a group of friends who go cave exploring only to get trapped underground with some flesh-eating hungry monsters. Even before I got far enough into the film to be scared by the monsters, I was already cringing at the scene where they get trapped in a small tunnel. I think it could be cool to play with the scale of environments: smaller areas to make the player feel trapped and afraid and larger areas to create a sense of relief.
Isolation and Lack of Stimuli
In my research, I looked at how isolation and a lack of stimuli could make people see hallucinations. It could be interesting to have large areas of darkness that make the player think they can see something. The game/web series Petscop is a simple retro style horror game that uses a lot of dark spaces and a low field of vision. It creates the feeling of something watching you in the distance, which was exactly the intention of the game.
“I like stuff that leaves a lot of room for the imagination,” Domenico said. “The way I thought about it was, I’m only showing a slice of things. I hoped to get across a feeling like there’s a lot more here, something strange and complex happening in the background, and you just aren’t getting a full view of it.” https://egmnow.com/theres-something-hiding-in-petscop/
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