KOICHI

Koichi is a walking simulator inspired by the mechanism of coping with trauma. The level largely relies on the potential of digital games to elicit the player’s emotions, by presenting at first a relaxed atmosphere, and, towards the end, an unsettling emotional juxtaposition.

Koichi tells the story of someone who has lost their memory and must explore the given world to remember. Memories are displayed through drawings placed in different points of the level. The player is expected to reach a temple on the opposite side of the game. Entering in the temple will display a narrow tunnel filled with red fog, and accompanied by painful audio cues, at the end of which the player will find a sign that advice to come back to the surface of memories. That is to say, the player must return to the presented world.

The game duration is supposed to go from 10 to 25 minutes.

The game was realized for the course Designing Gameworlds (2020/2021) for the MA in Digital Games at the IDG, Malta.