Game Concept

Lately, I've been thinking about an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever been falling asleep and at some point you end up tripping or falling somehow, in doing so you actually feel like you are falling, resulting in you jerking awake in a startle? It's very likely that you have, and that others have as well, as this is something very common and happens to most of us (about 70% of the population). I always wondered "what is this, exactly?". So I did a bit of research. It's called a "Hypnic Jerk" or a "Sleep Start". To put it simply, it's due to your brain getting mixed signals while you are sleeping or approaching sleep, that makes it think that you are actually falling, it then sends signals to the rest of your body, making you jerk awake from a falling sensation.

I've always found this to be interesting. I sort of see the whole falling thing as a metaphor for travel between states of consciousness. In fact, sometimes it can feel like falling in between the two. Falling from the conscious to the sub-conscious and back. I thought this would be an interesting concept to represent in a small game experience. Could make for something interesting if done right. It can even be something rather simple and still get the point across.

When I found out I had to make a Game Concept/Pitch for one of my college courses, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to flesh it out a bit and see what others think of the idea. In an effort not to overcomplicate things and ruin the gameplay, I've kept it rather simple. Sometimes over complication can completely sap the fun out of anything. (Something I still have a bad habit of doing). So I've opted to try and keep things a bit more of a simple mechanic, with interesting visuals. Below I have a small break down on what my game would be like.



General Information
Game Title: Falling
Platform: Computer
Copyright 2010 Jonathan Burton

Basic Concept
The player is falling from consciousness into sub-consciousness. As they fall through consciousness they travel through a surreal world. The world around the player changes randomly as they progress. Starting more recognizable, but as the player continues the world gets more and more surreal. The goal is for the player to try and last as long as they can on this journey.


Objective
The player must last as long as they can on their journey deeper into their sub-conscious. Along the way there will be obstacles they must avoid in order to remain on their path into a deeper state. If they collide with such an obstacle they fall back into consciousness.

Gameplay
The player controls their character as it falls through consciousness. The goal is to navigate the character so that they can last long as possible. Along the way there will be various objects the player must avoid in order to proceed. If the player collides with an object its game over. This is a game that is impossible to beat (such is the nature of sleep starts, but I digress). The goal is try and get as high a score as possible. The longer the player lasts, the higher their score will be. There will also be small glowing objects that the player will be able to collect in order to increase their score.

Characters
There will be only one character, the character of the player. Since the focus is more on the environment and less on the character, it best to represent the character in a less important way. The character itself will just be the silhouette of a falling person.

Example of what the silhouette character might look like.

World
The world itself is constantly changing as the player progresses. Starting out with something a bit more natural, the player will be falling through the sky with like objects around them. As they progress the world will shift randomly into something else, with contrasting objects around them. For example, they can eventually be falling through the ocean, and along with sea life they would see something like a typewriter fly past them. Other environments the player could encounter would be places such as; a forests, mountains, outer space, the rabbit hole (a reference to Alice in Wonderland), different times of day, surreal amalgamations of places, etc.

An example of a mountainous area the character would fall through.

An example of a more surreal world the character would eventually arrive in.

Controls
The controls to move the character are the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. This will move the character left and right respectively.

Graphics
The art style will be, in nature by content, surreal. A somewhat whimsical approach to both the art and sound will be present. It will be somewhat comparable to Alice in Wonderland.

Screenshot


Here is an example of what the game might look like.