Posted September 01, 2020 by zacca
Working Title: Key Chase
Game Concept:
My game concept involves the player needing to obtain a key from rooms to advance to the next level. Enemies will chase the player, increasing in number, speed and difficulty as the player advances through rooms. I am going to aim for 5 levels minimum. The art style is going to be quite simple, so it is easy for the player to see what’s what. Powerups will be included in some rooms. These will enhance the speed of the player, grant weapons or grant shields. A timer will be present for quickest time scores.
Genre: Top Down Survival (Horror?) Game
Concept Creation process:
I want to create a game that is simple, entertaining, with a main goal for the player, which is retrieving the key to advance to the next room. I am taking inspiration from games such as The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen 2011) and the old arcade game, Berserk (Stern Electronics 1980). The Binding of Isaac is a game I have not played personally, but I enjoy watching speed runs and seeing the different techniques the speed-runners use to get through the level as quickly as possible. For Key Chase, I want to implement a scoring system that is based off time completed. This will hopefully drive the player to complete the levels (or entire game) in a quicker time than their original. I am a big fan of time trial games, and that is a big influence for Key Chase. The TrackMania franchise comes to mind in terms of a simple game with a simple goal: get the fastest time on the track.
I think that music is usually an overlooked part of games and films alike, as it conveys the scenes emotions both consciously and subconsciously to the player. For Key Chase, I will be adding suspenseful horror chase music. Although the game isn’t visually horrifying, adding music such as this would add a great sense of urgency and give the player a sense of danger if they are caught. I remember as a little kid getting seen by a baddie in Metal Gear Solid (Konami 1998) made me jump out of my seat. Although it wasn’t meant to be terrifying, as a little kid, it was terrifying because it was imperative to not get caught and knowing someone was after me was daunting. Adding this element may class the game inside of the survival horror genre, but time will tell if it will flesh out that way.
Audience and competitive analysis:
The target audience for Key Chase is the casual gamer, but also the competitive. The game has simple boundaries, mechanics and gameplay, so that young and old alike can enjoy it. Its art style will be simple also, appealing to fans of the arcade genre. As it is lightly inspired by games that have large speed running communities, this will hopefully be attractive to the competitive crowd, but the focus is mainly directed towards casual gaming.
Game treatment:
The setting of Key Chase will be akin to a dungeon-crawler, with dark, dank colours to correlate with the intended soundtrack. Horror ambience, with cartoony sound effects (picking up the key will trigger a ding noise like the popular mario coin sound effect) to bring a little silliness into the mix as to not have an overly serious tone.
Mechanics will involve basic movement, with power ups to increase and enhance the players movement and abilities. I do not know how complicated the powerups will be, but I am planning on having an increase of speed, a shield, and a knockback blast that will blow nearby enemies away. The layout of levels will be top down, square, with varying walls, set pieces and props to change the shapes of the rooms. Enemies will increase in difficulty/number as the player progresses.
VISUAL EXAMPLES: Below: A Binding of Isaac screenshot, and below that, a Berzerk screenshot. Although the art styles differ, the core gameplay is very similar. Enemies follow and try to destroy the player, while the player tries to remain as agile as possible while eliminating the threat to progress to the next room. Key Chase will play similarly, but with the requirement of the key needing to be picked up to progress.
References
Indie Retro News, Berzerk – Classic 1980’s arcade game by Stern gets a NES Conversion, Thursday July 4 2019 http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/07/berzerk-classic-1980s-arcade-game-by.html
Ray Wilmot, Pocket Gamer, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth – Not the best port of an amazing game, Nov 9, 2015, https://www.pocketgamer.com/articles/068230/the-binding-of-isaac-rebirth-not-the-best-port-of-an-amazing-game/
theScore esports, What is Speedrunning? A Look at Gaming’s Fastest Players, YouTube Video, 16 Dec 2018,