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Indie horror games often touch upon topics mainstream does not

Imagine walking through a desolate mansion, floorboards creaking beneath your feet, eldritch shadows dancing along the walls, and every turn bringing you closer to an unseen terror. That’s the dread-inducing essence indie horror games strive to capture.

But creating such a game isn’t about throwing together a few jump scares. You must weave a tapestry of suspense, atmosphere, and compelling narrative. The following will be a comprehensive guide to how horror games are made, specifically designing an indie horror game that covers aspects such as pacing, technology, setting, gameplay, enemy AI, level design, audio and graphics, and scares.

So, let’s delve into my “How to Design Indie Horror Games”.

Story and Pacing

Brainstorming a storyline is ideal as the first step in developing an indie horror game. The story acts as a blueprint to guide not only your game but also what to work on next. Pacing in a horror game is also crucial for building tension and maintaining player interest. It involves the timing of scares, story development, and the flow of gameplay.

Building Suspense: Gradually increase tension by slowly revealing details about the story and characters. Use quiet moments to allow players to anticipate scares, creating a sense of dread.

Balancing Action and Calm: Alternate between intense sequences and calm moments. Allow players to catch their breath after a frightening encounter, then slowly ramp up the tension again.

Player Control: Give players the illusion of control while leading them through a carefully crafted experience. Use environmental cues and subtle hints to guide them toward the next objective or scare.

This also includes whether you want the protagonist to be. Do you want them to be a “Character,” giving them more depth and personality> Or do you want the protagonist to be an “Avatar,” which makes them more generic? Either one will help guide you in designing your horror game.

Narrative Timing: Weave the story seamlessly into the gameplay, revealing key plot points at the right moments to maintain intrigue and suspense.

Scare Frequency: Avoid overloading the player with too many scares. Instead, focus on quality over quantity, ensuring each scare is impactful and memorable.

Technology

Choosing the right technology is vital for creating an engaging indie horror game. Various tools and software can help bring your vision to life:

Game Engines: RPG Maker, Unity, and Unreal Engine are popular choices for indie developers, offering tools for both 2D and 3D games. With RPG Maker, you can easily build a horror game using the included assets to convey real or abstract elements. Meanwhile, Unity is known for its versatility, and Unreal Engine provides stunning visuals and advanced physics.

Art Programs: Software like GIMP and Adobe Photoshop can be used to create textures, backgrounds, and 2D sprites. Blender is also excellent for 3D modeling and animation.

Audio Tools: Sound design is crucial in indie horror games. LMMS and Wwise are great options for creating and manipulating audio, allowing developers to craft immersive soundscapes.

Optimization: Optimize graphics and performance to ensure your game runs smoothly on various platforms. Use tools like Profiler (in Unity) to identify bottlenecks and improve frame rates.

Setting

The setting of a horror game significantly impacts its eerie atmosphere and the emotions it evokes. Here’s how to create a compelling environment:

Atmospheric Design: Use lighting, textures, and environmental details to create a foreboding atmosphere. Dim lighting, flickering bulbs, and shadows can add to the tension, messing with the player’s perception to create a sense of loss or helplessness.

Unique Locations: Choose inherently creepy settings, such as abandoned hospitals, old or decaying mansions, or eerie forests. These environments help create an expectation of fear which is part of the psychology of fear. Adding unexpected elements can make the location even more unsettling.

World-Building: Craft a believable world with a rich backstory that has bits of its lore sprinkled throughout the game. Make sure the lore and history are discoverable through exploration, notes, or environmental storytelling.

Dynamic Environments: Implement changes in the environment that reflect the player’s progress or psychological state, such as shifting walls, moving objects, or altering lighting.

Isolation: Place players in remote or claustrophobic locations to create a sense of isolation. Limit their contact with other characters to heighten the feeling of vulnerability and challenge their belief of what is real by making the mundane seem slightly off.

Gameplay

Gameplay mechanics define how players interact with the game world and experience the horror:

Exploration and Discovery: Encourage players to explore their surroundings by hiding clues, collectibles, and story elements throughout the game. Reward curiosity with secrets or additional content.

Puzzle Solving: Incorporate puzzles that challenge players’ problem-solving skills. Use these puzzles to unlock new areas, progress the story, or reveal crucial information. Make sure each puzzle not only makes sense to the story and environment but also has a logical learning curve.

Resource Management: Implement mechanics that require players to manage limited resources like ammunition, health, or light sources. This adds tension and forces strategic thinking.

Player Vulnerability: Limit the player’s abilities or weapons to emphasize vulnerability. Create scenarios where the player must hide or flee rather than fight. This gives the feeling of losing control of one’s situation, one of three critical components to creating genuine fear, which you can read more about here.

Immersive Controls: Ensure controls are intuitive and responsive. Immersion can be broken if players struggle with clunky mechanics or interface issues.

Enemy AI

Enemies are a core component of horror games, and their behavior significantly impacts the player’s experience. If you plan to use them here are somethings to keep in mind:

Intelligent AI: Design enemies with realistic and unpredictable behaviors. They should react to player actions, adapt their strategies, and provide a challenging experience.

Variety of Threats: Include different types of enemies that require unique strategies to defeat. From mindless zombies to cunning ghosts, each should offer a distinct challenge and not be overcome in the same way another was defeated.

Stalking and Ambushes: Utilize AI to create suspense by having enemies stalk or ambush players. This keeps players on edge and adds unpredictability.

Weaknesses and Strengths: Give enemies specific weaknesses that players can exploit, but ensure they also have strengths that make them formidable opponents.

Emotional Impact: Design enemies that evoke fear, disgust, or empathy. Their appearance, sounds, and behaviors should resonate with the player emotionally. Take advantage of the enemy’s design to convey their story if they are a major character.

Level Design

Level design is essential for guiding players through the game and enhancing the horror experience:

Non-Linear Paths: Offer multiple paths and choices that allow players to explore the game world at their own pace. This encourages exploration and replayability.

Hidden Secrets: Include hidden areas, easter eggs, and secret passages that reward players for thorough exploration. These elements can add depth and intrigue.

Environmental Storytelling: Use the environment to tell a story. Clues, objects, and layouts should convey information about the world and its history without explicit narration. Bioshock is an excellent example of this, which you can read more about here.

Progressive Challenges: As players advance, gradually increase the difficulty and complexity of challenges. Introduce new mechanics or enemies to keep the experience fresh.

Fearful Spaces: Design levels with tight, confined spaces that evoke a sense of claustrophobia, levels with little lighting to evoke a fear of darkness, or a level using water to evoke a fear of drowning. Play on common phobias to add tension to the player.

Audio and Graphics

Audio and graphics are vital components in creating an immersive horror experience:

Sound Design: Craft a soundscape that enhances the atmosphere. Use ambient noises, whispers, and eerie music to create tension and anticipate scares. Also, remember that silence is golden, as a maddening silence can unsettle players.

Dynamic Audio: Implement audio that reacts to player actions or events. Sudden changes in sound can heighten tension and provide clues about nearby threats. Ensure the dynamic sounds are consistent with their associated action or event to make players dread that something will happen.

Visual Style: Choose a visual style that complements the game’s tone. Whether realistic or stylized, the graphics should contribute to the atmosphere and storytelling.

Lighting Effects: Use lighting strategically to create shadows, silhouettes, and focal points. Dynamic lighting can add depth and make environments more engaging.

Graphical Optimization: Ensure that graphics are optimized for smooth performance on various devices. Consider hardware limitations and aim to balance fearful aesthetics and functionality.

Scares

Scares are the heart of indie horror games, and their execution can make or break the experience:

Psychological Horror: Focus on the player’s mind by creating scenarios that challenge their perceptions and beliefs about the world or the game’s world. Use unreliable narrators, hallucinations, or moral dilemmas to accomplish this.

Subtle Horror: Avoid relying solely on jump scares. Subtle horrors, such as unsettling atmospheres or creepy visuals, can have a lasting impact. If jump scares are needed, let it actually be the threat and not something unrelated to the threat.

Unpredictable Threats: Design scares that are unpredictable and varied. Change patterns and introduce new threats to keep players guessing.

Environmental Scares: Use the environment to create scares, such as moving objects, flickering lights, or unexpected sounds. These can catch players off guard and enhance immersion.

Build Anticipation: Allow players to anticipate scares by building tension slowly. Use pacing and audio cues to create a sense of impending danger.

Closing Thoughts

This list does not require all items, as horror games can have all or a few of these components and still induce a lingering fear in players. Designing an indie horror game is a complex and rewarding process that requires careful consideration of various elements. Each aspect, from pacing and technology to setting and gameplay, creates a terrifying and immersive gaming experience.

Focusing on originality, atmosphere, and player engagement can help you craft a horror game that stands out in the crowded indie market. Embrace creativity, take risks, and always listen to player feedback to refine your game and deliver an unforgettable nightmare(The Indie) (Cliqist) (GamesRadar).

Creating an indie horror game requires dedication, creativity, and a deep understanding of what scares players. By following these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to crafting a horror experience that captivates and terrifies players around the world.

So, what do you think a horror game needs to be scary? Have you ever played a horror game that nailed the scare factor? Drop your top picks and why they freaked you out below in the comments!