![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/en-d27fq2mgp64qlg.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/05\/17051615133667.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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When there are so many horror games trying to impress audience with realistic graphics and lots and lots of exploration, Gattai Games from Singapore is going backwards with simple lines\u00a0in\u00a0black and white, or in other words, they are too fashion-forward.<\/p>\n
At Casual Connect Asia 2017, the Gattai Games crew showcased a demo of Stifled<\/strong>, which\u00a0is far from\u00a0many gamers’ wishes for great graphics. The screen composition is filled with mass blackness. Whenever a sound is made, whether through players’ audio input or ambience, an audio pulse is produced to make the surrounding visible in the form of white lines, all\u00a0at the cost of having an enemy eating them up.<\/p>\n This idea\u00a0stands out in the world of horror games, and thus earning the studio more than four awards among 13 nominations. This is actually not the first game that is sound-based and involves the use of echolocation. Its predecessor, Lurking, is also a similar game but much shorter and free.<\/p>\n Lurking is a successful project that has\u00a0gained four awards and a number of large Youtube stars to play it. After this success, designer Andre Pong said, that they\u00a0decided to make it commercial by creating a more comprehensive successor.\u00a0Pong also added practical and creative considerations to why Stifled carries on the legend of Lurking instead of one that finds itself being a brother of big horror titles. First of all,\u00a0a small indie development team cannot compete with big producers’ hyper-realistic and hyper-detailed art which requires much more skill and cost. Also, the idea of pure darkness produces more fright than a game that has things that look just like real.<\/p>\n "You see two white lines. Is that a pillow or is that something else," Pong explained, darkness never allows the players to see what’s ahead of them, and\u00a0hence the tension-ramping\u00a0sense of facing the unknown.<\/p>\n To Pong and his co-workers, sound design is half the battle for a successful horror game. This applies not only on Stifled, but also on horror games in general. "What makes you think it’s a kind of creature or a specific object? It’s the sound you hear." They believed good design alone can contribute to a gigantic portion of\u00a0the players’ imaginations and the feeling of uncertainty.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the achievement of the two horror titles will not lead to another one. Pong said they would be going for a completely different direction. Pong exclaimed, "we are really tired of horror!"<\/p>\n Of course, the horror master did not give a hint about what the next title will be, but it will very likely to\u00a0be, as described by Pong, "fun and happy".<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.files.qoo-app.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/440ec4c666d8603d.gif?resize=960%2C540&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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\u25b2 Screenshot of Lurking<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/en-d27fq2mgp64qlg.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/05\/1705161852317.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\u25b2 Gattai Games’ designer Andre Pong<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/en-d27fq2mgp64qlg.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/05\/17051616035738.png?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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