Set in the small town of Ann Siang Hill, an infamous cold case
on children going missing led to the abandonment of the ghastly
neighbourhood. Inspector Tan took the case into his own hands
for personal reasons, only to struggle between hallucinations
and reality. The mysterious visions he encounters as he travels
through the ghost town looking for clues leads him closer towards
the larger truth behind the disappearances of the children.
Throughout the game, you will discover visions of the past through
the persona. This is indicated by entering a colorized version of
the scene. You may also pick up evidences from NPCs or props on
the ground. These evidences will hint at the places to go, or
unravel bits of pieces of the storyline. You are encouraged to
replay a couple of times to get the whole story!
MOTIVATION
The goal of this pixel story was to learn about the agency of
exploration, unraveling a story through unordered discovery
and gameplay, driven by interactions and dialogues between
characters and key items. It was also an avenue for me to
fiddle with pixel art and game design.
CHALLENGES
There were module limitations set on the use of sprites, rooms
and items. Bitsy hacks were not allowed too. However, these
restrictions did encourage interesting workarounds, such as
hiding entrypoints to conversation or event-triggered scenes
and using dialogues to guide players to these hiding spots.
DESIGN
GAME WORLD
The game world comprises of 9 distinct scenes, 6 of them with
alternate dimensions. Key items are scattered among these scenes,
supplemented with monologues that unravel the plot. Characters can
only be found in scenes of the past. Interacting with these NPCs
will give clues to their identities, as well as the role they play
in the story. Depending on your possession of items, characters
will have different replies to your conversations.
FEATURES
ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS
You can travel between scenes to interact across dimensions. These
special dimensions represent the haunting of the past. To the
protagonist, it can be interpreted in many forms: hallucinations,
supernatural occurrences, time portals, recalls, etc. They are
distinct from the present dimensions in that they are coloured,
filled with NPCs and have slight differences in their setting.
HIDDEN ITEMS
Some items are hidden from plain sight. This allows you to explore
the area, focus on dialogues and the storyline to make interactions
with the environment. It can also become a thrilling "treasure hunt"
if you prefer searching for them to listening for hints in dialogues.
INTRICATE PIXEL ART & DIALOGUES
Each glyph, item, or character is designed meticulously to capture
traits, setting and character personalities in the scene. Some designs
are animated to illustrate events or create ambience.
PARROT
You will find a parrot in the park scene, imitating random lines
of passers-by. The parrot is a mechanism to capture the story from
a spectator's point of view, and provides a different perspective
to the story. The imitated lines will hint at the story, as well
as your objectives in different scenes.