Ghastly Desires
While this game is still in the pre-production phase, I created extensive design documentation for this ghostly, customer service crafting game. I'm focused on eliciting a sense of satisfaction and joy in the player from completing customers' orders and uncovering the stories of new customers as the game presents challenges to inhibit the player's progress.
Overview
Date: June 2025 - Ongoing
Role: Solo Developer
Research Documentation: Potions & Folklore
Shop Catalogue UI
I wrestled with the shop catalogue's display the most during this initial design because I found it precedent that the player is able to look back at their current inventory to make informed decisions about what they should buy from the shop. I didn't know how to include this though. The easiest option I found (can be seen in the bottom right-hand corner of the four gameplay stages whiteboard) was to have a tab within the shop catalogue that gives the player a summary of their stats, special requests to fill, & their current inventory. This does not appease me much since it's important to differentiate between the player's journal and the shop catalogue as they both appear in book forms.
Merchant UI Differences
To emulate the sharp personality of the merchant, I made her speech bubble sharp to depict her words as drenched in disdain for the player. There would be a yes or no button within the merchant's dialogue bubble for the player to choose if they wanted to enter her shop or not. As a stretch goal, I'd personalize the speech bubbles for some of the customers.
Core Gameplay Loop
To encourage the player to continue to play the game, I decided to include a variety in the types of ghosts the user could serve based on different cultural beliefs on what ghosts look like and do. This decision also serves to give the NPCs strong motivations which help liven the game's world. This is where the win condition stems from. As the player served new characters, they'd gain access to a customer encyclopedia that shares anecdotes about each customer. It would include the ghost's homeland and a common tale of the ghost from its cultural origin. Once the encyclopedia is filled, the player "wins" the game.
Game Mechanic Brainstorm
For the crafting mechanics, I drew inspiration from the interactivity of Cooking Mama's cooking system. Before programming, I plan to test the mechanics with playtesters using physical prototypes to see which the player prefers, why they prefer it, and any ideas they have for mechanics.
