What's Missing?
What's Missing? Is a first-person surreal puzzle game where you'll explore the never-ending loop of (almost) identical rooms. Spot the differences in order to escape this infinite magical loop of rooms.
NOTE: What's Missing? is still a work in progress. Though not all of the art is finished, I wanted to showcase the project I've been working on and my meaning behind the five environments.
In What's Missing? you play as Gregory, who recently lost his daughter. Gregory tried to resurrect his daughter, athe experiment has failed and has released an evil spirit. This evil spirit trapped Gregory in an alternate dimension where he has the go through a never-ending loop of repeating identical rooms.
For What's Missing? I've worked on all the environments and made the playable character (Gregory), the daughter, and the UI. I was also the one in charge of the narrative and how it would be told through the environments and interactions.
Environment 01
Each environment represent a stage and the emotions from the 5 stages of grief, of the Kübler-Ross model. The first environment represent the stage "Bargaining". I tried to visualize this through chaos and desperation by scattering papers and books all over the floor, and make it look like Gregory has done extensive research to find a way to bring back his daughter.
Environment 02
The second environment represent the stage "Denial". I wanted to create a fake perfection through the use props and the interactions with the environment. The environment itself looks peaceful, but also gives the impression something is not completely right. In the environment you can see the spirit of the daughter, but when coming to close, the daughter disappears. This should give the impression that Gregory thinks his daughter is still there, but in reality she's not.
Environment 03
The third environment represent the stage "Depression". I mostly used the dark and blue colors to represent this stage, and I've tried to represent depression with rain as well, that becomes more and more intense over the levels. Next to sadness, I wanted to represent the loss of motivation as well. As sadness isn't the only emotion that comes with the stage "Depression". I tried to make the environment look like it hasn't been lived in for a long time, by making the wall look overgrown and have spider webs everywhere.
Environment 04
The fourth environment represent the stage "Anger". Anger is mainly represented by the boss and the fight against it, as an expression of anger towards yourself and your environment. Because the interaction with the boss fight is the biggest representation of anger, the environment plays a minor role. However, I tried to give the environment the impression of intimidation and threat, by using mainly red color and shape. Like having a steep staircase when entering the room.
Environment 05
The fifth environment represent the stage "Acceptation". This environment is going to be an endless hallway, with the daughter at the opposite end of the hallway. When you try to move forward, the daughter moves away from you, and it's impossible to reach her. Acceptation comes when you as the player turns around, and leave through the door that has always been behind you, and let go of the thought of bringing Gregory's daughter back.