DREAD IT was my sophomore game project for my game design degree. I served as the systems designer and worked on the narrative for my team of 12 programmers, designers, artists, and composer.

The game was developed in a custom C++ engine and development started in October of 2023 and released on Steam in November of 2024.

As the systems designer, I was responsible for designing the core gameplay loop, the enemy behavior, and all the traps and tools that the player can use. I worked with the programmers and other designers to create a satisfying and tense experience. I also helped create the scenario and narrative for the game.

My job as the systems designer was to design for the core gameplay, enemy behavior, and player systems. I designed all the items that the player can use, which is their main way of interfacing with the mechanics. I also contributed code for the prototype of the game, which was used for playtesting while the custom engine was still in development.

CORE GAMEPLAY

The core gameplay went through many, many iterations before the final version was settled upon. There was a large disparity in size between the designers and programmers on the team, and decisions about the core gameplay were often reworked. I focused on reigning the game in on its design pillars to create a tense, strategic horror experience that allows for careful planning and challenging execution.

ENEMY BEHAVIOR

I designed complex behavior for the enemy that the player tries to avoid in each level. It has multiple different states, and transitions between them both at scripted points and depending on player actions. I worked closely with the programmers working on the enemy behavior to create a monster that provides both tension and a good challenge to the player.

PLAYER TRAPS AND TOOLS

My largest contribution to the game was via the many traps and tools I designed for the player to be able to use. The game was designed so that the player cannot fight or kill the monster, and can only set traps and use tools to slow it down. Many of the different traps and tools that the player uses interact with each other in chain reactions, and allow for strategic planning and tight execution in gameplay.

PROTOTYPING

Because DREAD IT was made in a custom engine, the process of development was both for the game and for the engine. While the engine was in its early days, I worked with the other designers on the team to create a prototype of the gameplay in Unity using C#. This is what was used for testing until there was a product to test in the custom engine.

WORKING WITH SPLIT DEPARTMENTS

Prior to working on this team, my game project teams were only ever made up of only programmers or only designers. This was the first time I had worked with multiple types of developers on the same team, and there were many problems with communication and responsibilities. I learned how to advocate for myself and my department, how to effectively work with programmers to implement new designs, and I especially learned a lot about team dynamics and working healthily with many others.

CUSTOM ENGINE WORKFLOW

The engine for DREAD IT was being developed at the same time as the game, and the latter half of the project was done entirely working with tools created in-engine by the programmers. There were many challenges with working in a custom engine, but I've learned not to be so self-conscious about asking programmers for help. Often times, these tools can be rough to use and lots of time can be wasted trying to figure things out when asking for help would have been faster for everyone involved.

INTRA-ACTIVE SYSTEMS DESIGN

DREAD IT was intentionally designed with each system mostly working separate from each other. This was so that the player could plan out each part of their strategy before beginning each level. This, however, made it so that each system had to be complex and deep on its own, isolated from other systems. This was challenging to design, since every trap and tool had to be useful both on its own and as part of a chain. It was similar to designing a card game, making sure that every item can be used effectively in multiple scenarios and in combos.

EXTENSIVE PLAYTESTING

I had run playtests prior to this project, but the games I would run playtests for were often very short experiences, being over in just a couple minutes. DREAD IT playtests were also similarly short in the beginning, but once the game expanded in size through its levels and especially through its story, playtests began to grow longer and longer, with multiple sessions being over an hour. I got very good at observational testing and note-taking, making reports and bringing feedback and proposed changes to the rest of the team.