Why Does A Game About A Little Kid Need To Be Scary? Can’t It Be Fun Like This?

2 responses to “Why Does A Game About A Little Kid Need To Be Scary? Can’t It Be Fun Like This?”

1. 

   FireAza

   June 12, 2012 at 7:57 pm

   No. Because that would be extremely boring. What makes Among the Sleep interesting is it’s unique concept, why would you want to take that away by having the main character do the things toddlers actually do in reality? It might sound charming to parents, but doesn’t make for an engaging game for the rest of us.

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   1. 

      Kamon62

      June 12, 2012 at 10:14 pm

      It’d be simple enough to have both elements. The title of the game itself suggests that the game takes place within the child’s nightmares. Now, imagine two separate planes of reality much like the game Catherine. The real world would be more narrative driven, whilst nightmares would be game play driven.

      Daytime would employ all the mechanics mentioned in Luke Plunkett’s article. The real draw of this would be you yourself having an adult mind. You could solve basic toddlers toys/puzzles and impress the parents of the child or you could intentionally be naughty to get a reaction from the parents much like a real child would. What would make that idea work so well in a video game is that most gamers act like children in a virtual space anyway. They intentionally ignore/hit things/throw/jump/disobey the game’s instructions to test the limits of the environment without inhibition, sometimes even intentionally trying to break the game.

      You could also eavesdrop on the parent’s conversations and figure out what might fuel the nightmares and give insight into the toddler’s current living situation. Of course, there are room for darker elements there ( i.e: Aggressive/abusive father, Struggling to pay rent & living payslip to payslip). These real life problems might even be a catalyst of the nightmares the child would experience in the night time chapters of the game.

      Oh! And of course and innocent game of hide and seek with a father is in no doubt the perfect tutorial for an Amnesia-esque game. Just look at the grunt pop out at 1:36 of the video. RAN CHILD RUN! 😛

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