Level Design Game Ideas
Level Overview:
The above level is based around a mysterious mansion in a forest that the player is drawn to for some unknown reason and will consist of a psychological horror type narrative. The level will be very exploration heavy and will revolve around some backtracking as the player will need to find items to unlock areas or complete puzzles. The level will consist of at least six different areas of the mansion as of now including a dining area/kitchen, lodging, bedroom, an office/study area, a living room as well as an inside garden area with a water feature that will be involved in a puzzle.
Gameplay:
The game will include puzzles that the player will complete for example activating objects in a specific order or using found objects in a particular way. The game won’t be too intense as it more based on the narrative and exploration but it will use obstacles to increase the intensity somewhat such as walls closing in on a room when an action is performed which makes the player have to find some kind of solution first.
Narrative:
The player character has come across a mysterious mansion and is drawn to it for some reason. The player has no recollection of any events involving the mansion so throughout the game the player will find notes and gain hints of the horrific things that happened through ‘stranger’ more supernatural-esque means. The player actually is the owner of the mansion who used to live there with his family before his wife turned insane due to the player’s character being a workaholic as well as him cheating on her. This lead to his wife killing their child accidentally which in turn made the player character kill his wife and be deeply affected by the events which caused him to block it from his memory. This whole experience takes place inside the mind of the player character as a way of finally accepting what happened.
Characters: Elijah Whitlock (The Father), Miranda Whitlock (The Mother) and Harrison Whitlock (The Child).
Game Progression:
Mansion Exterior: The exterior acts as a semi-tutorial for the player abilities. The player finds a small shack on the way to the mansion that has a flashlight inside. The player then encounters a fallen tree that can only be crouched under which then leads to a dark forest path that can be navigated using the flashlight.
Inside Garden Puzzle: When the player first enters the mansion interior, the inside garden is the only place the player can go to in order to progress as it is here that the mansion master key (unlocks the master bedroom, lodging area and the dining area) is found as well as a statue signifying an important item for later. The player must put three reliefs (The Father, Mother and Child) found in other parts of the mansion into a pedestal which in turn brings three platforms up from the water feature. Then the player may obtain an wax block from the statue that contains the key to unlock the living room door that has a note with it that hints that the item must be melted in order to proceed.
Dining Area and Kitchen Puzzle: The walls close in after picking up The Father relief in the Kitchen pantry. The way to solve the puzzle is to find something that can replace the relief in the kitchen. The object that is found is a plastic board that is heated using one of the oven hobs which is activated with a lighter found in the main hall which can then be placed into the relief mount to stop the walls from closing.
Lodging Puzzle: Each lodging room has a specific number in it that the player must find and use on a safe in a specific order in the Kid’s Bedroom to obtain the Child relief. If an incorrect combination is entered a trap door will open and drop the player into a spike pit.
Master Bedroom Puzzle: The player must find a hidden button to be able to open a secret passage into the office area from the bedroom as the office entrance from the main hall is blocked from the other side.
Office/Study Puzzle: The player must arrange some books in the correct order which is displayed on a painting in the room. This opens up a secret part of the room which contains The Mother relief when a lever is pulled. If the book order is wrong, a deadly gas is released into the room.
Living Room Event: The player finds the living room in a terrible state with most of the furniture being overturned. In the room, the player finds three different objects that alter the appearance of the room to appear progressively more blood stained and horrifying until two bodies appear in the middle of the room which causes a cinematic in which the player character remembers what happens.
The above images are references for the front of my mansion which the player will see at the beginning of the game and which will be used to draw the player in.