Welcome to the house with no windows! Have a seat, get a hot chocolate, and prepare for many spooks!

Christmas is a great time for horror games. Outside, it is cold and dark. You can see colorful lights glowing from the windows of your neighbors' houses but everything is silent and calm. Maybe a faint jingle can be heard from the end of a long road. You better stay inside because you never know what abomination lurks in the snow. You might not be safe inside either because someone dressed in red is climbing down your chimney.

That is if you live in the northern hemisphere at least. Kiwis are having a great time right now.

Anyway, let's get to our topic. I finally released the full version of The House With No Windows. Someone out there remembers the short prototype I made two whole years ago. You can find it here:

https://unknown-x.itch.io/the-house-with-no-windows-prototype

That prototype is pretty bare-bones. Its length is about 5 minutes and almost nothing happens in it. That's because I made it in two days, just to submit it to SCREAM JAM 2021.

You might be wondering why did it take me so long to make the full game. Did it take you so long because it is a huge open-world game with RPG elements, a branching story, and high-quality voice acting? Well, no, no, kinda, and no. The reason it took so long is that I had to pause the production multiple times for various life reasons. I hope one day I will write about these two years of my life but for now, I think I should get into what this project is all about.

The House With No Windows is a classic walking simulator at its core. All you have to do for the most part is move from place to place, interact with the environment, and solve an easy puzzle from time to time. Where I believe most walking simulators are lacking, however, is the immersion element of the game. Having hyper-realist graphics is great but the environment oftentimes feels static, unresponsive to player input. I remember the first time I played Amnesia the Dark Descent. Being able to grab things and toss them around, open doors and drawers by sliding my mouse, gave me a feeling of immersion that very few games have been able to provide since. That is why my goal with this game was to make it as interactive as possible and for the most part, I made it. The doors require actual effort to open, you have to carry a lantern around if you want to light up the scene, etc. This system does have a downside, mainly that your character is "one-handed". Having to let what you are caring down to open a door and then pick it back up, feels a bit bothersome but until someone figures out a better system, I think the downsides outweigh the upsides.

Moving from the gameplay side, this game offers a complex story that is delivered mostly by notes and visual clues. There are three different endings and for someone to piece together the puzzle, they would have to experience all of them. To get to each ending, you would have to start the game over. To combat making boring replays, I have set up small differences and surprises between each gameplay to keep you on your toes. The intention of this approach is to make each playthrough unique enough that you will be willing to come back or watch other people's playthroughs.

Alright, that is all I have for now. I hope you found this read interesting and you got convinced to give this game a try. I might make another devlog in the near future to detail my experience with game development and the inner workings of horror. Until then, I have a long list of games to play these holidays while also working on future updates on this game.

Happy holidays everyone!!!