Hey everyone, I’m planning on making a single player horror game and I’m stuck between these three ideas. I can’t decide which one I should focus my attention on, so I’ll write a summary on each one, hoping you can understand the premise. I’ll appreciate any thoughts and critiques on them! I added a “tldr” version at the bottom just in case you don’t want to read the whole thing and want a shorter and quicker summary.
1.) Sakuya’s Revenge: It’s the late 90s, you’re a homicide detective residing in Japan and you and your partner get a call to a house where someone has been a victim of a gruesome murder. When investigating the house, you feel a strange presence watching you. From the distance you spot the victim’s spirit watching you and completely vanishing into thin air. Not knowing if what you saw was real or your imagination, you brush it off because you don’t want to sound crazy. The next day you wake up seeing the same ghost, but this time they’re standing a little closer than before, and once again they vanish into thin air. Worried that you’re losing your mind, you get a mental evaluation but no problems were found and it was passed off as the lack of sleep or traumatic experience from the crime scene witnessed the day before. After a long night out and just before you go to bed, you notice 7 tally marks carved into your back with 1 already crossed out, when the clock strikes 12 AM midnight, another tally mark gets crossed out. Panicked and confused, you call your partner over to see if he sees what you see. After your partner confirms, you ask him if he can show you his back, also revealing the 7 tally marks with 2 crossed out. At this point you realize that the two of you may have been cursed and time is running out, and the only way to stop the curse is to find the murderer and bring peace to the spirit.
2.) Shallow Lakes: After getting lost at sea and trying to find your way back home, you spot an unknown island. You pull up to shore and get off the boat hoping to find someone that can help you. After looking around the island all you find is a lonesome cabin, but you still can’t find people. Heading back to the boat you notice that the tide has gone out and there’s no leaving for now. And it’s getting dark, so you decide to stay the night in the cabin. When entering the cabin, you realize that you’re not alone and notice that someone has been here recently. And not only that, it’s occupied by some sick individuals, finding bones and other body parts. Just where are you and whose house did you happen to stumble upon? Later on in the story you find more stranded boats in other parts of the island, and you find out that you weren’t the only one that has wound up here by mistake and other people fell victim too, but they never made it out. The two individuals eventually find out they have a new visitor and now you’re being hunted. Can you hide and survive long enough until the tide comes back in?
Buddy & Pals: You’re a worker in a new popular fast food chain called Buddy & Pals. The mascots consist of a dog (Buddy) and his two pals, a cat, and a bird. After a long day at work, your coworker decides to head off home leaving you alone to clean and lock up the place. After finishing up your chores, you notice a guy in a “Buddy” dog costume standing outside the drive-thru window saying nothing, just staring at you, and disappearing after walking off. Thinking that was strange, you walk to the front door and notice two individuals standing outside the front door wearing a cat costume and a bird costume. Thinking this is some type of prank you nervously laugh it off because it still kind of creeps you out. You call out to them but no response. You tell them that the place is closed, and that they should come back tomorrow. After a few seconds, Buddy comes into frame dragging your coworkers lifeless body, and stands right next to his two friends, just staring at you. You take a glance at your car and notice the tires have been popped too so there’s no chance in escaping. You start to panic and threaten to call the police. They all walk out of frame with your coworker, and the power goes off. You realize that you can’t call the police because you don’t have your phone due to a “no cell phone” policy and the store phone doesn’t work because of the power being disabled. The only working phone is located right outside being a phone box. Meaning you have to leave the store and risk your life, or stay inside not knowing if they’ll eventually break in. After not seeing them for some time, you quickly run to the phone box willing to take your chances but forget that you needed coins to make a call, so you quickly head back inside to get some. When inside you spot Buddy in there hiding, he must have sneaked his way in while you were using the phone box. Buddy walks up to the front door and unlocks the door for his two friends. They all try to search for you, each one individually checking out every room. Can you hide long enough and take out each member one by one?
tldr:
sakuya’s revenge: homicide detective gets cursed after investigating a recent case and the only way to get rid of the curse is to find the murderer.
shallow lakes: after being lost at sea and arriving in a boat to an unknown island, the tides go out leaving you stranded on an island with two crazy killers hungry for blood. And the only way out is to wait until the tides come back in.
buddy & pals: you’re a worker at a new popular fast food chain called Buddy & Pals. you’re greeted by a group of three people wearing costumes based off the mascots of the franchise. thinking its some type of prank, you quickly realize that it’s not and that they’re there to kill you. And the only way you can survive is to fight back.
If you think an idea needs some changes, let me know, thank you.