Schell Games

[{"content":{"text":" Note: This is a re-post from the PlayStation Blog . Some content was updated. I Expect You To Die , the acclaimed, spy-themed, escape-the-room game, will launch this December [in North America] on PlayStation\u00aeVR . The wait to experience the many ways a spy can perish in VR is almost over. After all, when you develop a game named I Expect You To Die , the trick is having more than one way to die. "},"id":"3e941b4a-2609-4198-a87c-a08bd954da73","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vAfeeCIyV_4","caption":""},"id":"40e4ce45-342a-4d26-811d-dcf4fcb85923","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"text":" When we started making I Expect You To Die , we knew there had to be consequences for agents that didn't \"escape the room,\" but we also knew we had to be careful crafting those consequences. Make the level too hard or the puzzles too obtuse, and players would be frustrated and quit. Too easy and it would be boring. We also didn\u2019t want the design to be unfair. You never want the player to feel cheated by some lame trap that they couldn\u2019t possibly have known about until after it killed them. The flipside is that dying in hilarious ways in VR can be very fun, and we knew we wanted that experience to be a large part of the game. With these variables in mind, we formulated two strict rules for each death: Always have at least one clue before a death trap. Make it clear why you died so you\u2019d learn for the next playthrough. As long as we followed those rules, we felt pretty good about adding in a bunch of ways to die. In fact, for each level we had three or more ways the game would try to kill you and three or more ways you could accidentally kill yourself. When deciding on new venues for puzzles, we\u2019d always make sure that there would be interesting ways to die that would be in theme. "},"id":"4ee682ab-eb6a-4888-a805-8fe556ee0e78","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/4tn609b1hpx8kO3H"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"6a1746fd-40c7-4ea3-a7cc-dfa985a279f1","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"text":" While there are more than 30 ways to die in the game, they basically boil down to six categories: explosion, fire, laser, gunshot, drowning, and suffocation. Our UI artist created the coroner\u2019s reports you see in the \u201cdeath scene\u201d based on that info. Not only are these humorous pieces of art in their own right, they serve to reinforce and remind the player of what killed them, so they can avoid it next time. Speaking of next time, we thought long and hard on what happens when you die in the game. We wanted the player to be able to take a breath, process what happened, and then get back in. Early on we had considered checkpoints, but we found that sometimes players would get themselves in a bad state, or miss a clue that would help them complete the puzzle if they picked up midway through. "},"id":"03b35912-0c1a-4f4a-9b1f-78b046e8d70d","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/0nVPBTUuZS3yK1Lx"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"dbd8fdef-2425-4808-b73b-3fc2a050f3f2","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"text":" We decided that starting fresh each time was important, but armed with the knowledge you gained from the previous run, you\u2019d be able to quickly progress to where you left off. That\u2019s why we consciously avoided any long timing puzzles, like avoiding swiveling security cameras for instance. Puzzles like that are questionably fun the first time and can quickly become annoying on subsequent playthroughs. This focus on letting the player progress through the puzzle as fast as they can lets them get back to where they left off quickly and allowed us to make speed-run challenges. (Listen to the Voices of VR podcast where Shawn goes into more detail about designing this game.) Experimenting in VR is fun! Death shouldn\u2019t be a punishment, it should be entertaining. So when you pick up your copy of I Expect You To Die , don\u2019t be afraid to cut that bomb wire, pull that grenade pin, or anger that bear; after all, we expect you to die! I Expect You To Die is available now on the PlayStation Store ! Get your copy today. "},"id":"24c735dc-49ce-4ff6-abc2-56c7bd8ab569","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"}]

Introducing 'I Expect You To Die' on PlayStation®VR

December 13, 2016 · insights

Let's work together.