Them
Credits:
Graphics / Art: Marie Klein-North, Robin Huynh
Development: Garip Kusoglu, Emilien Bauer
Audio: Geoffrey Turpin
Game design / game writing: Clément Gastaldo
Created in October 2022
Optimised till early 2023
Concept
The theme of this autumn game jam was “spooky.” I proposed an original interpretation of the theme by focusing on social anxiety, portrayed through a horror lens. This concept resonated strongly with the team, as several members had personally experienced this feeling, and it quickly guided us toward a gameplay centered on the protagonist’s interaction choices and their perception of the environment.
The decision to create a non-gendered protagonist, in order to facilitate player identification, was supported by the use of a first-person perspective and by writing the narrative text in English.
Beginning of the game
Game design
Which game mechanics should be prioritized to convey this psychological state?
I established the foundations of a simple gameplay system built around two core elements:
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Energy units, required to initiate spontaneous interactions with a character or to select “confident” dialogue options that conceal the protagonist’s anxiety. When the protagonist runs out of energy units, approaching someone or choosing certain dialogue responses is no longer possible. Energy can be restored through various means (retreating to the restroom, reading their favorite book, etc.).
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A stress meter, which fills up when other characters’ responses become stressful. It serves both as the game’s element of unpredictability—since certain reactions are difficult to anticipate and stress can spike unexpectedly—and as a key factor in replayability. Through repeated playthroughs, the player learns which choices to prioritize and gradually understands the protagonist’s sensitivity to stress.
Once the stress meter exceeds 40%, it begins to fill automatically as the protagonist enters a stress episode, distorting their perception of other characters and the surrounding environment. The player must find a way to exit this episode before the meter reaches 100% (resulting in failure and a restart of the level).
Start of a stress episode, after the stress meter has reached 40%
I designed the first and only level of the project (characters, interactable elements, rooms...), taking place in the family house. I prepared the arborescence of possible choices for the player, timing of stress episodes and wrote all game text.
The use of an online whiteboard (Miro) happened to be far more appropriate for this project than a conventional GDD, allowing a fast implementation of the arborescence.
Arborescence for the dining room (salle à manger), in French
Yellow: interactions
Blue: dialogs or description
Red: event
A2, B2, A3....: answer options for the player
NPR: "ne pas répondre" - "say nothing". It is always possible to choose not to answer.
Consequences of choices are written in red or green: Energie -1 and Stress+10%
Due to a lack of time from the team members, Them did not really grow beyond the game jam stage.
We still had the chance to show an improved version of the first level during a local event, collecting test feedbacks.