- Version: 1.0.0, November, 2023
- Game Name on Unity Play: ANU2023 Room of Secrets
- Game Link on Unity Play: https://play.unity.com/mg/other/room-of-secrets
- Preferred browser: Google Chrome
- Objective: Players will take on the role of a detective in a first-person perspective to unravel the murders that take place in the castle and reveal to the world the murderer's plot and the ultimate fate of the testament.
The core gameplay of the game is exploration and puzzle-solving. Players frequently interact with objects, discovering the hidden clues to escape from the room. Through first-person view, the players engage in environmental puzzles, altering library elements and subsequently affecting other areas. Specific actions will trigger flashbacks, grant insights into the room owner's backstory and offer additional puzzle hints. The game also challenges players to make decisions that influence the story's outcome.
- Players: Single-player. Requires the ability to think critically and observe keenly.
- Objectives: Uncover the truth behind the room owner's death and find the key to escape from the room.
- Procedures: Explore the room, interact with objects, experience flashbacks, and make decisions.
- Rules: Limited interaction with objects, and area accessibility based on puzzle completion.
- Resources: Clues, items for puzzle-solving, hint.
- Conflict: Discrepancy between the apparent and hidden truths.
- Boundaries: Physically within the room; conceptually between past flashback and present.
- Outcomes: The truth about the room owner's death, different endings based on the player's decisions and escape from the room.
The game uses a combination of keyboard inputs such as "A, W, D, S" and arrow keys for movement, "F" for interaction, "G" for accessing the clue bag, and mouse control for puzzle-solving and scrolling for head-up and down. This control scheme is designed to be intuitive and familiar to most players, allowing players to focus on the puzzle-solving aspect of the game.
The interface provides information including the next step/goal, like finding the cause of death, time remaining, number of clues left to find and gameplay instructions. This information-structured approach keeps players informed about their progress and the objectives ahead. The time element adds a sense of urgency, encouraging players to strategize and make efficient decisions. Word balloons for hints and sound effects accompanying character actions offer auditory cues and visual hints to assist in puzzle-solving.
The primary camera viewpoint is first-person, creating a direct connection between the player and the character, immersing the player in the environment and emphasising player-character connection. Players can switch to an overhead view using the F1 button, offering a broader view of the room to pinpoint their location. This flexible viewpoint system enhances the gameplay experience, offering different angles to approach puzzles and investigations.
- Player Control: You control a Detrctive in this First-person (with optional overhead view game), where Keyboard inputs: "A, W, D, S", "F1", "G", "F", and Mouse input: click, drag, scroll, makes the player move around the room using "A, W, D, S" or arrow keys; switch between first-person and overhead view; access clue bag using "G"; interaction with objects using "F"; solve puzzles using mouse click and drag; and head-turning using scroll.
- Basic Gameplay: During the game, clues and interactive objects appear from various areas in the room. And the goal of the game is to uncover the truth behind the room owner's death and find the key to escape the room, navigating through puzzles and flashbacks.
- Sound & Effects: There will be sound effects, ambient sounds to enhance the setting, and particle effects, when a player requires for a hint, there will be a stimulus appears that instructs players about the next step. There will also be dynamic weather effects to denote the passage of time, and animation for character movements and interactions, providing players with a rich gameplay experience.
- Gameplay Mechanics: As the game progresses, players will experience increasing difficulty in puzzles, encouraging critical thinking and deductive reasoning. Making it a game where choice matters and affects the outcome. There will also be a dynamic clue system where players can collect and combine clues in various ways to uncover different endings of the game, adding layers to the gameplay and encouraging exploration and experimentation.
- User interface: The Timer will decrease whenever the player is solving the puzzles. The Hints decrease whenever the player feels stuck and requires hints. At the start of the game, the title
Room of Secretswill appear and the game will end when the player successfully uncovers the truth and escapes the room OR fails to do so within the time limit. - Other Features: Implementing branching stories to the main story to encourage replayability.