Blind is an innovative horror game that immerses the player in a world where sight is useless, and sound is everything. The game takes on a unique perspective as the player assumes the role of a blind person, navigating a world filled with terror and uncertainty. The game’s primary focus is on creating an eerie atmosphere, utilizing sounds to provide sensory information about the environment.
The game world remains invisible until the player makes a sound, which reveals parts of the environment while simultaneously exposing the player’s location. This game mechanic creates a tense and suspenseful experience, where players must balance revealing enough of their surroundings to progress while also avoiding detection from lurking enemies.
Blind was initially created during the Nordic Game Jam 2019, where the theme was “That, Again.” During the brainstorming process, we explored several ideas before landing on the final concept. We initially toyed with the idea of a puzzle game that involved aging quickly but only while moving but leaving traces on the world, but the idea was ultimately scrapped.
We then began to work around the challenge of designing a game from the perspective of a blind character. They soon arrived at the idea that players would see only what they hear. This mechanic was first tested with footsteps, and it quickly became apparent that it could be used to create an unsettling and terrifying horror game.
We designed the game to keep players on edge, utilizing the unknown and awkward to create scares. The footsteps of the enemies were made to be irregular, with slightly odd angles, and adding breath to them made them feel a bit human, but also a bit off. The result is a game that keeps players guessing and unsure of what is lurking around the corner.
In horror some of what makes the game scary is the unknown and the awkward. So we designed the footsteps of the others to be very irregular and at slightly odd angles. Also adding breath to the others helped making them a tiny bit human.
Although Blind is not a lengthy game, the team felt a sense of accomplishment with the final product. The game was programmed by moml and a myself, with sound design by fartbender, level design by another team member, and design input from all team members.
In conclusion, Blind is an innovative and engaging horror game that stands out for its unique perspective and use of sound mechanics. It is a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of its creators, and it is definitely worth trying out on Itch.io.