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A multiplayer horror game set underwater, where players choose to be Spirits haunting a sunken ship or Treasure Hunters. Spirits use ghostly abilities to trap, lock rooms, and track intruders, while Hunters must evade traps, avoid surveillance, and collect treasures before time runs out. The Spirit's goal is to prevent the Hunters' escape, creating a tense, strategic showdown.
Design Lead
January to May 2023
3 Designers
6 Programmers
Game Design
Visual Design
Animation
As Design Lead, I defined and maintained the visual style and design direction, ensuring alignment with the story's atmosphere. I led designer meetings, set sprint goals, managed tasks with clear deadlines, and contributed by designing and animating elements for the environment, characters, and UI.
Our goal is to design a multiplayer game with two roles: defenders and attackers. Defenders manage the game from a security control room, while attackers control a character in third person with a ¾ top-down view. Attackers move freely, while defenders remain stationary, interacting with their security cameras. Inspired by “Capture the Flag” and “Five Nights at Freddy's,” this game combines offense-defense mechanics with a control room feature. Attackers infiltrate a haunted shipwreck to steal treasure, while defenders track them down to protect it before time runs out.
The Spirit in our game has no fixed form, appearing as a wispy, ever-changing entity that embodies what it possesses. This unpredictability enhances the horror. When possessing a portrait, it turns sinister, infused with red for its magic and teal for its essence, evoking a drowned, eerie tone fitting the underwater shipwreck setting.
The Treasure Hunter is a stealthy thief, combining assassin and diver traits. Initially designed in brown tones for camouflage, feedback showed it was hard to spot on small screens. We revised the design with brighter colors for better visibility.
Find the Hunter by switching between room cameras, keeping an eye on the battery to know when to switch.
Stop the Hunter by locking doors, but you can only lock three per game. The Hunter unlocks them upon reaching the doors.
Place traps to block the Hunter for five seconds. You have three traps per game as the Spirit.
Kill the Hunter three times to win. Drag the button to the Hunter when it glows red after the cooldown.
Find the Hunter by switching between room cameras, keeping an eye on the battery to know when to switch.
Stop the Hunter by locking doors, but you can only lock three per game. The Hunter unlocks them upon reaching the doors.
Place traps to block the Hunter for five seconds. You have three traps per game as the Spirit.
Kill the Hunter three times to win. Drag the button to the Hunter when it glows red after the cooldown.
The Hunter has 3 lives. Each slash from the Spirit costs one life. Lose all lives to lose the game. Lives are shown on the top left.
When the Spirit inspects the map, the Hunter sees a highlighted area and a moving eyeball instead of a portrait. Evade these to avoid detection.
Gather three treasures randomly placed on the map. Their locations are unknown to both the Hunter and Spirit.
After collecting three treasures, the Hunter must reach the exit to win. The Spirit is alerted when the exit appears.
The Hunter has 3 lives. Each slash from the Spirit costs one life. Lose all lives to lose the game. Lives are shown on the top left.
When the Spirit inspects the map, the Hunter sees a highlighted area and a moving eyeball instead of a portrait. Evade these to avoid detection.
Gather three treasures randomly placed on the map. Their locations are unknown to both the Hunter and Spirit.
After collecting three treasures, the Hunter must reach the exit to win. The Spirit is alerted when the exit appears.
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The game is set aboard a sunken ship from a post-industrial era, with most of its interior constructed from wood and overgrown with marine life after years underwater. The ship’s deteriorated state—evident in cracked floors and broken furniture—enhances the atmosphere of abandonment. The Spirit, a former sailor who drowned in the wreck, now haunts the vessel with a greenish hue reflecting his watery death. Although the ship’s treasures were never his, being the only sailor to return as an undead entity, the Spirit has claimed them obsessively. To protect them from water damage, the Spirit conjured a magical air barrier, coincidentally allowing the diver to explore without swimming.
The magical barrier is represented by colorful swirls around the ship, designed to feel both captivating and unsettling, as if hidden eyes are watching every move. The vibrant neon yellow-green stands out against the ship’s dark greys and teals, enhancing the eerie atmosphere. The lavish furniture reflects the sailors' opulent lifestyle, explaining why the Spirit refuses to let go of his stolen treasures.
I used various brush strokes and patterns to distinguish textures, like plush fabric, metallic stool sheen, and smooth wood. Shadows added a worn, dirty look, enhancing cohesiveness.
Though the background is the same for both Spirit Win and Hunter Lose screens, distinct banners convey different emotions. The Spirit Win banner shows haunting eyes, symbolizing trapped souls, while the Hunter Lose banner features a bleeding vine, emphasizing entrapment. Skulls intuitively represent death, and monotone elements highlight the Hunter’s portrait. The Spirit's red frame also surrounds the Hunter’s portrait, contrasting with his teal palette and emphasizing both characters.
The minimal screens highlight the Hunter’s isolation as darkness consumes him. A red glow on his helmet suggests possession by the treasure, symbolizing danger and his downfall. Though he stole the treasure, he doesn't truly “win” since he won't live to enjoy it, reinforcing that theft has consequences.
We designed the character selection screen like a portrait gallery, ensuring the two characters stand out. Greys and blacks emphasize the bright red and blue frames, adding story depth. A quick flip animation introduces the characters, helping players choose without confusion.
Our color palette is proportional to each color's presence in the game, ensuring clarity. Predominant blues and blacks suit the underwater setting, while reds and yellows highlight key elements and guide players to interactable objects.
This has been an enjoyable and challenging journey.
As Lead Designer, I was passionate about shaping the game’s visual style and worked hard to make it visually striking, winning the 2023 Audience Choice Award. Stepping out of my comfort zone with animations and environment design helped me grow. A major challenge came when the game was unplayable after Alpha, but my developer teammates pulled through, and I'm grateful for their support. Just before the showcase, I impulsively redesigned the UI assets, and despite their surprise, they trusted my vision and worked hard to perfect it. This experience taught me to embrace imperfections and be less hard on myself and my team.
