Description

A grim first-person adventure game in which the player advances the plot using playing cards. Set in the 1950s on an Earth destroyed in a Lovecraft-inspired apocalypse. The last few humans are aboard a steam train traversing a dead world of horror. The player takes the role of one of the passengers and through exploration and conversation begins to uncover a tangled tale of human frailty and desire. As he discovers new facts and connections, the player acquires playing cards that represent the knowledge he has gained. By freely combining the cards, the player chooses his own path through the story. The game does not provide specific objectives or clearly defined choices - it is a story sandbox from which a larger narrative goal slowly emerges as the player explores.

History

Motivation

It all came out of a bit of frustration with today's big story-heavy adventure games. I felt that the branching dialogue in such titles spoiled my immersion because I was never able to clearly choose what I wanted to say to an NPC character, and ended up choosing somewhat randomly. It kind of robbed me of the opportunity to come up with my own solution. I started thinking about how I could take that one aspect of the game, improve it, and build a whole game around it. A game where the player feels free, engaged and part of the world.

Pre-production (January 2024)

The development itself was triggered by a New Year's wish and began as a one-man project. The first few months were spent prototyping, designing and writing the story.

Production (June 2024)

Production went into full swing. The 2D prototype was transformed into a 3D first-person game. Soon the basic mechanics were implemented - interaction with the environment, collecting cards and a card organizer. Special attention was paid to immersion, which resulted in a highly diegetic interface.

Team assemble! (August 2024)

Dreadline Express was a hobby project from the beginning and it still is. However, by August it had reached a sufficiently representative stage to convince several talented artists to join the project. A 3D graphic artist, a sound designer and later a 2D graphic artist turned up the heat and development got into full gear (pun intended).

Features

• Non-linear exploration
• Original card-centric narrative mechanic.
• Elevated horror with a strong focus on the atmosphere and immersion.
• An existential horror story inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, set in an unusual setting aboard a moving train.
• A mature game that respects the intelligence and imagination of the player - no excessive hand-holding.