Hi everyone!
I’m coming in a bit late but I'm looking for some people to help me develop, or at least conceptualize, a mystery deductive game set entirely inside a moving semi-truck!
The Game Concept
Inspired by Obra Dinn and The Roottree's are Dead, it's a deductive-based puzzle game set inside a long-haul semi-truck during a cross-country trip. You play as a kid traveling with his trucker dad, listening to CB radio conversations to piece together the identities of different truckers. You then cross-references the information from the conversations, a trucker group photo, and a map to match truckers to their rigs, routes, and cargo. Once you correctly ID three, the game(aka. the dad) automatically confirms it. There’s also an emotional undertone where between puzzle-solving, the game slows down at points for quiet dialogue moments between the kid and his dad. It’s not a dramatic story, just a small, personal one about this trip they’re taking together.
Game Scope
Even though I have some experience in tech, developing websites and CRMs and such, I still have a very embarrassing habit of underestimating how long or how difficult something will take or how difficult it will be. So I'm attempting to keep this game as simple as possible and expand as time and capacity permits.
- Built in Unity (Not married to this but it's the only system I have experience in)
- 2D with mostly UI driven gameplay - no cut scenes or complex animations (Since 2D art is my background, I thought this would be easiest)
- Minimal coding if possible - I'll probably have to have someone help with this.
- Winnow down. Winnow down. Winnow down!!
What I'm Looking For
I originally planned to do everything myself, but now I realize I could use help refining the mechanics and figuring out if this structure even works with as soon as possible jumping into development. I think the concept of trying to create a deductive game without much movement or user search is a really interesting challenge. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for at the moment other than a few people that could help me with the game and systems design - or even just people who love deduction games and can help refine how the logic will work.
- Game Design/Systems Design – The main thing I'm looking for at the moment. People who would be interested in helping refine the deduction mechanics and systems in the game so they’re engaging, challenging, and feel good to solve - as well as helping me keep those systems as simple as possible! (Even if you don’t want to commit to the project, I’d love to talk with other devs who love deduction games and get feedback on the overall structure.)
Other Areas -
Since I am still very much so a novice with Unity and C#, the project would benefit from someone experienced who can help with implementation, troubleshooting, and making sure I’m not over-complicating things. I'm also open to either mentorship/guidance or more hands-on coding support, depending on what someone is up for. I don't want to have this person in too early as I don't want to have anyone create something that just gets completely reworked because we figure out the system doesn't make sense, however, I don't want to make the mistake of waiting too long to get into development.
Some additional areas I may need help in are 2D art and UI/UX design, sound design, & writing support.
Again, I do plan on doing as much as possible myself and I'm not sure what capacity I would need help in or what would be realistic to ask people to collaborate with! I'm a bit concerned with burdening people with such an experimental project so I don't want to ask for too much!
Current Challenges & Open Questions
Puzzle Design - Will the game even work?
- Will a mystery game work when all information comes from a CB radio instead of movement/exploration?
- How do we keep deduction engaging without feeling too easy or overwhelming?
- What’s the best way to structure progression while keeping it player-driven?
Systems
- How can I execute this game while winnowing down and keeping mechanics simple!
Additional note - Just to be clear, I’ve put a lot of thought into this. I’ve spent a ton of time working through the mechanics, testing different ways to structure the puzzles, and figuring out how to make this work as a deduction game. I’m not looking for anyone to do the heavy lifting for me—I just really value having people to bounce ideas off of. Since there aren’t many resources on designing this specific kind of puzzle structure, and I’m still fairly new to game development, this whole process feels a bit experimental. I'm always super nervous when it comes to posting these things because I know I'm a noob but I just wanted to say that I'm very excited and I'm open to all different sorts of collaboration!
About Me
Lastly, a little about me personally. My name is Sam and I'm based out of Orlando, Florida, US. I've been interested in game design ever since I played Dream Chronicles on Big Fish Games and fell in love with puzzle games. I love games that make you think and I love puzzles in general.
I have a background in 2D illustration and I am in marketing full time. I have experience in web design so i have a good understand of HTML and CSS. Here is my website (https://samanthakorth.com/) if you want to check out some of my portfolio of (unrelated to game design) design work.
Over the past 4 years I've been trying to dedicate time to learn Unity and C#. I am still very much a novice but I know that only taking courses and not attempting to actually make a game has been holding me back from really learning all of this in practice so I'm eager to take the leap and committing to getting my first game finished.
I'm really excited to meet some new people who have similar interests and I can't wait to see all the amazing outcomes of this Jam!