Ghost Elevator
What is this game about anyway?
To set the scene, I’d like to take some time describing my vision for Ghost Elevator. Please keep in mind that anything I write here is subject to change, and most likely will evolve over time.
Ghost Elevator is a co-op survival horror game. Game revolves around the elevator (surprise!), which only can go down. In each floor, players have to find a key card which would allow them to go to the next floor.
Depending on how deep players get, levels become more and more dangerous and peculiar, with different styles of environment and their own challenges.
If players cannot find a key card in time, or they all die, the elevator door closes and players respawn in the elevator as it goes down to the next level, but they get a penalty. After the third penalty the game ends.
Unfortunately for the players, they won’t be alone. There’s going to be an enemy, which can travel fast, is attracted or deferred by player actions, and is deadly. Players would need to figure out how to deal with the enemy, which will behave differently depending on the environment.
Key cards can be found in every floor, but they are scarce, and levels are large and randomly generated. Players would need not only to find the key card, but also find their way back to the elevator before they are caught by the enemy or the time runs out.
Key cards could be different types, and every key card can have different side effects. For example, a key card with a skull and bones means the next level will be much harder than usual. That could be a stronger enemy, very limited visibility or other obstacles that players would need to overcome. Using a maintenance key card would make the elevator permanently stop, and players would need to find another elevator to continue. Using a key card with a clock would alter the time players can stay in the level, and so on. The probabilities to find different types of key cards will vary.
Having different card types and a penalty system would force players to be mindful how they are using key cards. For example, skull key cards could be used early, while levels are not that difficult, increasing chances of their survival. However, you can still die early in the game and get a penalty, but if a player runs out of other key cards down the line, it will be forced to use skull key cards and face a much harder level. The game will have a lot of these types of scenarios, where players would need to look for good trade-offs, increasing their chances of reaching the bottom.
But what’s at the bottom? It is unknown. But it’s up to players to find out.
This is a very high level overview. All of these ideas need to be confirmed during play testing, but it’s a good starting point from which I can start working. I have many more ideas, but I will explore them in other posts.
