The realm of horror in video games remains consistently botched by two outstanding design facets: predictability and replayability. As more developers implement the timing, atmosphere and design proven most effective to ensure quality products; more players have slowly walked the same corridor lit by the sporadic flashes of a damaged over-head lamp, on edge and waiting for the third door on the left to burst open revealing horror’s new costume. As players become conditioned to expect these sort of design ethics, the first enjoyment of new titles can be sometimes hampered - regardless of quality, let alone a second play-through. The most recently popular method of circumventing this issue has been a reliance on immersion, through tailoring atmosphere and the like to keep the experience as personal as possible. Alas, while most attempts seem to ring more soundly with each release, none of the titles available have truly landed the mark. Immersion is about the player; so, wouldn’t putting the player on the mantle and creating an environment tailored to their individual habits be the sure solution? Is this ideal too ambitious or costly for scripting and AI pathing to actualize? Well, with bio-feedback being the foundation, Nevermind is attempting the sure solution.
Under the creative direction of Erin Reynolds, Nevermind is “a PC biofeedback-enhanced exploration horror game in which you venture into the minds of trauma patients to discover the truth behind their horrific experiences”. One wordy description. Basically, as players assume the role of an employee at the “Neurostalgia Institute” tasked with tapping into the mysteries hidden by the repressed memories of trauma patients, they will face any number and shape of horrors. With the tone and setting in place, the rest is on the player. Intended to be played while using a GARMIN heart monitoring device, Nevermind is structured to ramp up its own difficulty as players become more anxious; and, return to a more gentle state as players calm themselves. This brilliant notion opporates under the ideal that in order to progress in the game efficiently, players will need to learn to temper and manage their own anxiety.
While adjusting the playing-field to properly address the issues horror games have faced in predictability and replayability; Nevermind’s biofeedback-enhanced game-play is poised to change the way horror games are designed fundamentally, and could possibly provide a new angle for anxiety management. As a player’s ability to manage their stress changes Nevermind’senvironment, the all-ready-instated goal of being as unpredictable, varied and fluid as possible can stand to have much more valuable impact through multiple play-throughs.
While unable to provide the heart monitors with the game currently, the specific one can be easily purchased here. However, Nevermind is built with an algorithm designed to track play styles and adapt accordingly, allowing the game to be enjoyable even without a sensor. For more information about Nevermind and its future, see the IndieGoGo page or the game’s homesite.
- Doug Comstock
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