STORY, CONTEXT, AND EXPECTATIONS
The game was developed with atmospheric story-driven exploration in mind, and many of the features (and sometimes limitations) of the technology were used to heighten the player’s sense of dread.
In one sequence, we leaned into the false presence created while in VR, and allowed the player to get confused about their facing and lose their sense of direction—while simultaneously requiring them to rapidly flee an imposing threat.
The cursed mountain serves as both a literal and symbolic setting, reinforcing cycles of loss and desperation. By integrating emotional storytelling, environmental puzzles, and body horror mechanics, it delivers an experience that is both unsettling and thought-provoking, transcending typical VR horror tropes.
BODY HORROR & GAME DESIGN
Identifying that body horror is uniquely suited to VR because the medium directly engages the player's sense of physical presence and embodiment, I recognized the opportunity to provide a first-person experience of the genre, which was a novel concept at the time.
I incorporated elements of visceral body horror, adding gameplay that required unsettling physical actions like reaching into corpses, or mutilating your own hands.
This increased physicality made every in-game task feel personal and immediate. In horror specifically, hand-tracking amplified tension, evoked true apprehension from our play testers, enhancing the emotional stakes.
