A walking simulator that emulates the feeling of loneliness through the use of minimalist graphics and mechanics, and features a story that relies heavily on the player's own interpretation.

In this simulation, there is no real objective or way to win. So it is technically not a game, but would more accurately be described as an experience. (However, I dislike that word as it sounds pompous so I will use "game" to refer to this project) That being said, it's genre is in the realm of a walking simulator/think piece. It is meant to get the player to think about what they are seeing.

This game will be developed specifically for desktop first and maybe brought to mobile later. It is most likely very possible to bring it to mobile, but I would like to polish it on one platform before I bring it to another. Therefore, I will attempt to design a mobile counterpart only if there is enough time to handle the task correctly.

This is one of the aspects I am most excited about for this game. There is no defined story for this game. In fact, the game is inherently meaningless since it is only a group of inanimate objects such as squares moving across a screen. The game relies heavilly on the fact that humans like to ascribe human-like characteristics to inanimate objects, especially ones that they, the player, are controlling. Therefore, the game will rely heavily on the player to give it meaning.

The general story I am trying to make the player ascribe to these squares is the journey of an individual who feels alone. There are two ideas that I am currently torn on. They will be listed in separate paragraphs below:

1. The first idea I have is a little more developed. I am thinking of starting the game with a group of squares that will follow the player around, but as the game progresses the squares that follow the player around will fade into the background one by one. The general message here can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the player. Perhaps they will take it as their friends abandoning them unfairly, or maybe the will interpret it as they, the player, are driving their friends away. Then as the player continues walking, they will come across groups of squares that walk away whenever the player approaches. How the player responds to this is where I think things start to get really interesting. Do they approach every group of squares? Desperate to find someone who will stick around? Or will they start avoiding the groups of squares out of spite? In terms of psychology, I am really interested in this response and is one of the reasons I wanted to recreate this flash game.
2. The second idea is only different from the first in terms of how it starts out. There would be no cubes following the player, but it would start out with more color. As the player progresses, the color would start to become more muted and drab, maybe signifying a dip into depression.

I like the sound of both ideas, and am considering doing a combination of the two.

The art style is very simple. In fact, it is asimperative that is as simple as possible since I want the player to ascribe their own story to the game. Therefore, a minimalist style is the best option and I will simply be using solid squares to represent people.

In terms of color, the game will have a muted palette most of the time. If I decide to use the second idea described in the "Story" section, there will be slow transition from color to black and white as the player progresses through the game. The starting colors would most likely be bright and warm colors such as red, orange, yellow, etc. but would be muted over time.

Mechanics:

• NPC's run away from the player whenever the player approaches them.

Control:

• WASD to move are the only controls that the player will use.

Onboarding:

• A screen that displays the WASD keys under the word "movement", or a png image of the same thing with a transparent background that fades away as the player leaves the starting area.

Player Learning:

• Al the player needs to know to beat the game is the movement keys. Again, it is not technically a game, but is an experience.

For full disclosure, I would like to say that this is going to be a reimagining of the flash game, "Loneliness", by Jordan Magnuson. I discovered the game when watching an Extra Credits video on meaningful mechanics in video games. It is a great watch and the original game plays around with a wonderful concept. I highly recommend checking out both the Extra Credits video and the original flash game.