Nice game!
First of all, I love the unique visual style! All of the assets go very well together and makes for a cool look!
I like this idea a lot, and I think there is a lot of room for more mechanics and additions with this concept. Having the player be limited by what is normally given to help players in stealth games is a cool idea, and is fun for those who are used to the usual stealth game tropes.
Speaking of those stealth game tropes, I think that this is where this game could shine. I think the best way to implement new mechanics would be to look at what is common within stealth games, and how would they effect you when you are playing the guard? Here is just a few ideas that I came up with:
- Distracting Sounds
- Some enemies could maybe throw coins or other items that force you to walk in that direction. Or you get some sort of punishment for not checking out the noise.
- Footsteps
- Places that you have been will leave footsteps, in which enemies will attempt to avoid.
- Vents
- Usually stealth games have some form of movement like this, maybe the enemies could use the various vents around the map to get around.
- Cameras
- Control and place cameras yourself. Create a setup of angles that you can lure enemies into.
- Teasure
- Knowing that the enemies will want to get to a certain location within the building can help with planning. (But maybe sitting in the exact room will just make it easier for them, since they can lure you out.)
Obviously there are many more to think of, but those are just a few initial ideas.
I think this game could be elevated from a simple "walk around and find them" to more of a "How did they get over there? What path did they take? How can I outsmart them?"
Currently, the awareness system feels a bit too tight. I like the idea of having to think about where you will go, but I found that it more often than not just made me perfect my movement around the map so that I couldn't waste a single step. And it was hard combined with the WASD movement on a diagonal angle, I found it difficult to move around without having to think beforehand on which direction I would go due to the angle.
The dialogue is very well written for how short it was, I love how the guard only speaks with emoticons.
The "Hey!" matches very well with the music, was this intentional?
Overall nice game a great idea! I would like to see how this gets expanded!