Less is More. Balancing Narrative and Action in Frightence

A solo producer, developer, and producer of many games for every console before me. FrightenceThis title holds a special place in my heart because I co-authored it with three other developers, who were all first-timers. They helped me create the story aspects. Frightence.

I’ve developed three horror titles before and realized that through the journey of pitfalls of indie-game development, balancing narrative and action is a real hurdle.

Indie developers have to not only overcome budget constraints but also technical problems. We found it very easy to work with the IDXbox team when developing for Xbox consoles. During the certification process, IDXbox was very patient with us and extremely helpful. Frightence. Our vision was also made possible by our knowledge of our engine. It is Unreal Engine 4.

We have a vision FrightenceIt was easy: Create a quick, but intense, horror experience. Our goal was to make the interactive elements as simple as possible and allow the player to be focused on the main narrative idea we were trying establish. One of the major ensnares for indie horror games is to write the background story “too much”…The players know that they are playing a relatively short-budgeted indie game so they want to experience something more unique, contrasting and distinguishable.

We did it! FrightenceIt was to tell a complex and multi-layered story featuring many different characters. The storyline would allow the player only to glimpse a small part of that story. Although it was difficult to eliminate most of the literary material, it was essential for us in order to complete the game as we had envisioned.

Players will have the opportunity to interact with a number of interestingly macabre characters. FrightenceBut they will experience only a small fraction of their lives. This might sound like a risk that can alienate some types of players, but, hey, what’s the point of being an independent developer if you can’t be bold enough to take such risks?

Final verdict FrightenceAlthough it’s a quick horror game, there is plenty of intrigue and scary characters to be found in each step. FrightenceIt might just be the first and last time you meet them.

This opens up the possibility of re-playability as well as a myriad of sequel possibilities. The audience’s responses to the various layers of background stories are what we eagerly await. Frightence.

This is also a great question.

How does it affect you if you only meet an intriguing character once in horror games?

Simple answer: It will make you think about the character. And we believe triggering a player’s imagination in a horror game is the best an indie developer can achieve in this genre. As developers, it would be our greatest reward. Frightence.Take a deep breath Frightence today – it’s out now on Xbox!

Frightence

Playstige Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆
26

★★★★★

$5.99

Frighthence is an intense, first-person horror experience.
You are the janitor who works at the infamous Apartment #17, which is the seed of many eeire tales and bloodcurdling urban legends…
The apartment recently got an eviction notice and tonight, you must check every resident’s flat to make sure that everybody has left.
Soon you will realize that things are not the way they seem in this dreadful apartment…