1408 STUDIOS
Game portfolio
Who is Lying?
Game Inspiration: 13 Reasons Why and Pretty Little Liars
Level Duration: Still in Progress
Learning Objective:
My design goal was to create a game that was outside of my normal storylines. I really enjoy creating
psychological thriller/horror gameplays but when I started to create this prototype, I wanted to step
away from being a police officer or explorer and I wanted to create a game that I personally had not
created and designed before. I have a passion and interest in psychology, and I like to combine
elements of psychology within my games. Although it could be argued I maintained an element of
psychology within the game, as I did address issues that can have a psychological impact on an
individual, it was not the point of the story and I didn’t design any jump scare, horror/thriller scenes.
Narrative:
A first-person perspective as a college student in America. You reveal other students’ secrets and unravel the truth behind a student’s death. Everyone posts on social media, and everyone must have a following to be considered worth talking to at this college. However, not everyone realizes the true impact social media can have on someone so when you find out a student has died and comments on their social media account are hurtful, you want everyone to know who was responsible. This game addresses issues of violence, entitlement, sexual orientation, and social status through the negative impact social media can have on an individual.
Research:
My research started through watching TV shows and films that surrounded American High School and college campuses. I particularly drew a focus on American high school/ college because that is typically depicted in the film industry, so I knew that I could get quality images of where to base my level designs off. Therefore, my level was set in a college campus inspired by some of the scenes you see in “13 Reasons Why” and “Pretty Little Liars”.
I really liked the storyline in both series, and I knew that I wanted to challenge myself in moving
away from the psychological gameplays I usually create. When watching these series, not only was I able to get inspiration for the level designs but also for the narrative I wanted to convey. Particularly looking at Pretty Little Liars, I wanted to have that aspect of “A” sending texts and causing/ potentially causing trouble on social media. As we live in a world currently revolving around social media and influencers, I thought it would be very fitting to develop a game that looked at how social media can negatively impact individuals.
Design:
I really enjoy creating first-person perspective games, so I continued to use this perspective for this game. I thought that this would really suit the game because I wanted players to have the feeling of being in that student’s shoes and understanding how they might react and feel about what is happening in the game.
To help guide the player through the game, I created a path through spacing and placing a typical American College campus. I have currently created various scenes such as a cafeteria, offices for the staff and classrooms that you can both walk in and some just look through the window. I have also created a bar. The idea for the bar you see is based from RuPaul’s Drag Race. I originally developed this bar for no reason apart from the fact that I enjoy watching the show and the design of one of their sets in the show. I asked my sister for advice on how I could incorporate this into the game, and she suggested that it could be a part of a sorority. I really like this idea and I plan to take this on as I continue creating the game. Using this scene, I could expand the narrative whereby you play as a student within this sorority, and it is one of the sorority member’s that dies.
