Lullaby - Shiloh Guo
Game Description
It encapsulates a psychological horror experience infused with nostalgia, resembling a walking simulator. As you revisit your childhood home, an eerie noise draws you to the long-abandoned second floor. Each step through the familiar rooms and corridors, collecting remnants of forgotten toys, evokes a poignant journey back to your younger self. Amidst the eerie ambiance, the distant voice becomes increasingly recognizable, heightening the sense of unsettling familiarity.
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My ROLE: Game Designer, Narrative Designer, Technical Artist, Environment Artist
PLATFORM: PC | Team Size: SOLO
GENRE: Walking SIM | Horror | RPG
Game Showcase
Drawing from my expertise in narrative storytelling, I structured the game into four distinct scenes, each imbued with its own unique atmosphere and color palette. Players navigate through these scenes, propelled forward by visible toys that lead them to explore new environments.
To enhance the immersive experience, I employed advanced post-processing techniques and intricate lighting setups, meticulously crafting the atmospheric ambiance that envelops players throughout the game.
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Scene 1
* Environmental Design Ideas
The initial environment of the game is a dark corridor, which represents the real world.
The first toy the player sees is a Robot. Its color is bright because its appearance represents the player entering an abnormal space. Its presence must be alien to reality.
Players cannot see it clearly when they are far away, because this will give players a desire to explore with curiosity and fear.
Scene 2
* Environmental Design Ideas
Here is where players are gradually reminded of warm and soft childhood memories.
In the living room at home, there are toys scattered around, a TV playing cartoons, and loud music.
Replacing the roles of mom and dad are Lego minifigures. They are placed on the sofa in human proportions, revealing that this world still does not conform to the rules of the real world.
The main colors are yellow and green, which seems to have a summer atmosphere and dazzling sunshine. Gives people a comfortable feeling.
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Scene 3
* Environmental Design Ideas
In this scene, the rhythm becomes chaotic and psychedelic.
While following the footsteps of his memory, the protagonist discovers some unusual places, which are also the places where he is confused in his memory.
The color is purple/blue, which also represents the twilight period, when the sun is setting and the children are going home - the end of things.
In this scene, the protagonist mentions his mother again. He is waiting for his mother to take him home.
Scene 4
* Environmental Design Ideas
This scene is the foreshadowing before the climax of a story.
The boundaries between reality and illusion thus become unclear.
The protagonist appears to be walking through a long corridor, leaving the house and reaching the outside world.
But this external playground still has walls. It is an extension of the house, proving that this is still the inner world of the protagonist.
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Scene 5
* Environmental Design Ideas
This is where the mystery of the story unfolds.
The player follows the protagonist's wishes and starts playing on the swing.
Being hit by a sudden vehicle (train) was a hallucination caused by his PTSD attack.
Because of this trauma, the protagonist still feels the same fear and pain as he did when he was a child.
Then he heard his mother singing a lullaby.
So he followed the sound.
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