The core of horror game design is not the existence of monsters, but the player's fear of the unknown. In this project, I hope to create a game experience that purely relies on environmental shaping and interactive logic to drive the sense of horror, rather than simply using Jump Scare to create excitement. Therefore, I used UE5's blueprint system to build a complete level, including interactive mechanisms, and through light and shadow, spatial layout and player psychological guidance, created a low-information, high-pressure exploration environment, allowing players to feel horror in the process of actively avoiding threats.

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About atmosphere: Space shapes horror, not monsters

In my opinion, in horror games, the source of fear is not just monsters or sudden scares, but the space itself. In other words, it is the uncertainty of environmental rules. In the game, I designed a dark, closed chamber, and red light became the only static threat. Players need to understand its existence and find a safe path of action in the environment. I hope that the moment the player enters the chamber, he can feel the oppression of the environment. The only light source is determined by the flashlight in the player's hand. The flashlight is not just a prop, it is also part of the puzzle itself-illuminating corners and discovering hidden hints.

 

In the implementation of UE5, I controlled the R key to turn the flashlight on and off through the blueprint, and added dynamic changes in light and shadow, so that players are always aware that "darkness" is part of the game mechanism, not just a background setting. This subtle change in interaction allows players to experience the accumulation of tension in the simple action of "turning the flashlight on and off".

 

Light and shadow design: I used the lighting blueprint of UE5 to set the occlusion of specific areas, so that the brightness of the red light changes at different angles. Players may mistakenly think that a certain path is safe, but when they switch angles, they find that they are already in danger.Sound effect guidance: Although the red light does not move, I designed the dynamic changes of environmental sound effects so that players can hear different levels of environmental noise when they approach the red light area. This method can exert psychological pressure and make players hesitate when entering certain areas.

 

The purpose of this design is to make players always feel awe of the environment during the exploration process, rather than simply relying on visual threats to create terror.

 

About interaction: the least operation, the most tense experience

The core of the escape room is how to enable players to complete complex goals within a limited range of operations. In order to make the game as simple as possible without losing strategy, I limited the core interaction of the player to three operation keys:

 

F key (core interaction): used to pick up keys, open doors, read notes, and switch lights. All actions directly related to "escape" are completed through the F key. All story background and additional information can be obtained through the F key.

E key (environmental interaction): players can check furniture and find hidden clues.

R key (flashlight control): in a dark environment, players must use a flashlight to find clues.

 

The core concept of this design is "restriction brings fear"-players can do very limited things, which means they must carefully consider the consequences of each action.

 

About threat: static oppression of red light

The red light in the game does not actively move or track players, but its existence itself creates a strong sense of oppression. Players need to understand the rules of red light through prompts in the environment and deliberately avoid it when taking action.

 

Perspective guidance: I control the angle of red light through blueprints, so that players must adjust their sight to accurately judge the safe area.

Light interference: Some puzzle areas will be affected by light sources. Players may need to turn off certain light sources to find the real safe path, which will also increase psychological insecurity.

Small street lamps: can temporarily avoid the damage of red light.

 

This static threat design can effectively avoid the boredom of "pure chase battle", so that the source of players' horror comes more from the uncertainty of rules rather than the simple escape mechanism.

 

About design thinking: the rhythm and control of horror games

In this project, I am most concerned about how to create a long-term tense experience through rule restrictions and information deprivation. Compared with the traditional Jump Scare, I hope that players can feel fear autonomously during the game, rather than passively accept the fright. This requires fine control of the rhythm, so that players will constantly face the psychological pull of "whether to continue moving forward" when exploring.

 

This project is not only an experiment of horror game mechanisms, but also an in-depth application of the UE5 blueprint system. All core mechanisms, including interactive systems, light and shadow control, and environmental trigger logic, are independently designed and implemented by me. Although I referred to some online tutorials and free materials in the early stage, all the level designs, core mechanisms, and interaction logics of the final product reflected my design ability and proficiency in the use of UE5 blueprints.