Game Idea A Week: Eternal Dream

Week Seven (20/11/2009)

The Idea for this week is linked to a story I've been writing. You (the player) are stuck in a lab where every night your dreams are sucked from you. You must survive your own dreams, as well as finding out a way to escape your reality of the lab.

Platform:

Probably PC

Genre:

Adventure/Action

Why it needs to be made:

A dream world allows for more possibilities than a game set in the real world.

Description:

The player starts in a single dream. This dream will have a number of clues as to what is happening behind the scenes. The player then wakes up in a room in a lab. This is when we find out that the player's dreams are being captured by an unknown force. The player then enters a series of dreams that they cannot escape without solving an overall puzzle.

In terms of gameplay, each level will either be a new dream world, or part of the lab environment. The player will navigate through each dream world in a way similar to a classic adventure game (i.e point and click and still background screens). However, at certain points the player will be forced to act quickly and react to a dynamic environment. This combination of fast and slow pace will increase the interest in the game. The goal for the player is to find a way out of the lab and to stop dreaming.

Why it will be a compelling game:

The story will be strong, but will allow for multiple paths both within and across the dreams. This will happen because unlike traditional adventure games there will be more than one way to solve problems, and the way that you solve the problem will affect future outcomes. This will give the player a sense that their actions matter in the game world.

Other thoughts:

The beginning of the game story can be seen in the short story, Eternal Dream. Further details on the character, Bolingo, and possible plot developments can be found on the Eternal Dream further details page.