Hell is Underground

This game concept is a reimagining of an initial non-digital subway-inspired prototype made by Luke Brockmann. In this project, the chaos of navigating the subway system is implemented into a new digital version, taking a first-person perspective in a 3D world.  There will be multiple subway stations and a clear destination, but the commuters’ seemingly simple trip will be derailed by various subway inconveniences such as train delays and track fires. 

The team: Luke Brockmann, Kate Howell, Carsen Decker, Annamaria Koshy, and Rilee Horowitz.

Explore and navigate the metro; probe the ghastly mysteries. The subway is much more difficult to traverse than you may expect. Just try to get to your friends across town and not get TOO lost. In this demo, the player will need to solve puzzles, complete minigames, and talk to all sorts of odd characters that you would often see in the New York subway. Many of the interactions with the NPCs in this game will be immediately familiar to anyone who takes the subway in NYC, with a few additional twists…

I took on the role of an encounter designer, programmer, and 3D modeler for this game. This includes narrative, scripted events around the many subway stations but also random encounters and mini-games that some players may never even find. The challenge was turning simple tasks or troubles of everyday life into the NYC subway and turning it into a fun experience. Albeit, the goal was still to get under the player’s skin with the absurdist monotony of scraping gum or squashing cockroaches.

This project is currently on hiatus due to COVID-19.