Key Design Update


Following my research into Spanish Modernism, I made some more concepts (shown above) and tried to ensure the influence of Spanish modernism was evident through my design choices, which I believe I achieved.

Upon sharing these concepts with my group, we agreed on the clown concept being the best way to avoid conventional detective archetypes and make our game really stand out. However, having Detective Carnaby being portrayed as a clown meant we needed to alter the backstory.

Considering the brief and feedback from other members of my team, these are the major story points behind our game:


  • You play as a clown in the carnival. One day a woman comes to the carnival desperately seeking answers behind the disappearance of her husband - we eventually piece together the clues to find out the woman is your wife, but because of the clown makeup she doesn't recognise you as her husband. This could explain why the woman is drawn to ask the player for help. The woman begs the player for help before being escorted away (it could be hinted that she is killed for asking questions OR is brought into the carnival too, and by the time Carnaby has pieced all of the clues together she no longer recognises him as her husband).


  • The clown isn't there of his own free will - he found himself in the carnival without any memory of who he was before, but finds a mirror in his pocket with a portrait of a woman's eye on the other side - this was his wife. Carnaby is given drugs each day to ensure he has no memory of who he was before the carnival - the drugs could be hidden in the food... he doesn't eat any of the food upon starting to investigate, which is how he begins to remember his past throughout the game.


  • Carnaby eventually pieces all the clues together and recognises the woman at the start as his wife.


  • The carnival is a cult which treats the performers as 'family' - they are all given the last name Carnaby (as it sounds like it could be a play on the word 'carnival').


  • There is a hierarchy in the family, with Senor Mistico being the one in control.


I believe this story would be good to use in the game jam as a lot of this story will enable the player to explore the carnival area. If the game were bigger in scale, we would include flashback sequences, allowing the player to explore other areas outside the carnival.


~Emily

Get Señor Místico

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