Hi Loressa, thanks for playing! First, I’m sorry about the audio. Let’s just say I dreamed too big for the time I had 😅, so I couldn’t polish some parts. I also loved your energy and the way you analyze, test, and talk about games!
I need to reveal a few things to explain the name and answer some questions from your video.
The ultraviolet light is for later levels (there are 12 in total). There are about 10 types of mobs, and some of them can’t be seen under normal light. The sounds you make spawn new mobs around the map, and their AI lets them track you. You were right about them stopping in the light: the idea really did come from Doctor Who 😂. That changes later on, though, as some stop responding to light and others no longer seem to care about noise. When I played the finished game, the same things that bothered you bothered me too.
As for the name, there’s a famous saying: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Since reaching the ending is pretty tough, here’s the story:
The letters are written by someone who prepared the way for you to escape. You were part of a small group that survived a disaster caused by humanity’s last great invention. Your colony’s goal was to repopulate the world and return to normal life, but along the way, you all rebuilt the same “tool” that had nearly wiped everyone out. In this case, it’s AI, represented in a playful way by the game’s specimens. You believed it would speed up progress, but it gradually took over jobs, government, healthcare, and even education, until it became impossible to control.
The author of the letters had been watching you. Even though you helped build it all, you always seemed to be against it. You studied the generators from afar, even though they weren’t part of your sector, and scribbled in your notebook as if you were sure it would all go wrong someday. And, well… it did!
I chose the name Wheel of Fear because it’s an endless cycle. People learn from their own mistakes, but rarely from society’s. Machines keep evolving, while humans still seem to carry prejudices from centuries ago.
I hope that answers everything. If I forgot anything, just let me know!