Exist developer discusses creating an existential horror game

First-person horror adventure Exist aims to tackle themes of existentialism and social injustice. The game’s central puzzle revolves around the character you play—“your character is the mystery to be solved”—and the prejudices to which they are subjected. Wired.co.uk got in touch with developer Ansh Patel of Narcissist Reality to find out what inspired the philosophy game and to learn a little more about the development process.

Wired.co.uk: How did the idea for Exist come about?

AP: I’d say the core of the idea came from a surreal fever dream I had a few months back, most of which I could remember I have described in my Twine-made devblog “The Process.” I believe it was a byproduct of growing up in an Internet culture where the inherent hate and prejudice that always existed among some of us has become a lot more apparent for all of us to see than it would have otherwise.

Thematically, I was inspired by some of Ingmar Bergman’s films, particularly Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, along with Salvador Dali’s surrealist art. Structurally, the game was inspired very much by the poetic stream-of-consciousness prose of Virginia Woolf’s, especially in her seminal novel The Waves.

Why did you choose a horror game particularly? Is there something fundamentally horrifying about existence and society?

Yes, that was precisely the reason. I feel the manner in which the society labels people based on their race, gender, or economic status often restricts them from truly becoming who they are—binding them in chains, restricting their identity into loosely defined, obsolete stereotypes. Every man may be an island, but that island also gets affected and defined by the ocean that surrounds it.

How many different character types can you play as? Is there just one or are there several?

At the moment, there are three different character types you can play as. The first of them is actually a randomly generated one. Within this random generation, we have two planned types:

1) Defined: one which puts character at the fore and from the start assigns the characters randomized traits, personality (which is obviously left for the player to figure out).

2) Natural: Which is more like an RPG where the character is the vessel of the player and depending on what they observe and interact ends up defining the character.

The other two characters are actually scripted. This is because I wanted to write few conventional characters with a clearly defined background and then fit within the game’s structure. It not only gives me a chance to try out some interesting ideas on how they will play out differently from the randomly generated character, but it also allows me to write a more defined background and personality for them. Each of these characters has its own set of unique dream scenarios each of which deals with a central question.

Were you tempted at any point to embed the same ideas in a more traditional game type rather than make a statement game?

Exist was born from a rough prototype called Ten Minutes, which I had made to play a lot like conventional first-person adventures like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs but with related themes on societal prejudice. I think if anybody were to play Exist, on first glance it would feel like a conventional adventure game in many ways, since observation and interaction are the core elements of the gameplay. But it also has twists to the formula, especially in terms of structure, which make it fairly unconventional in my opinion.

Are you using ludonarrative dissonance [conflict between play and story] as a game mechanic?

I personally see Exist‘s mechanics as less of ludonarrative dissonance and more of dissociating player and character consciously. The latter may be a byproduct of the former sometimes, but here the very premise is making its players realize that there is a specific distance between you and your character. You and they are not one, but you may have a say in what they become. When the game’s core mechanic is asking “who are you playing as?” I believe the dissonance is less intrusive and more constructive in exploring the relationship between the player and their character—something which has fascinated me about games.

Can the game ever come to a satisfying conclusion given the complexity of the issues you are aiming to deal with?

It’s definitely a challenge to put it mildly. Not simply because presenting such complex concepts can be an issue on a limited budget, but also because it can expand wildly if you don’t get a rein on it. Scope creep is the biggest enemy and since we’re just a team of two, it is an important factor to consider.

To add to that, my process of design is more experiential where I am fairly flexible about quite a lot of aspects about the game. I know that comes with its own set of risks, but I prefer it that way because the more I work on a concept, the better I get to know it and the more I want that to reflect in the game.

Were you influenced by other games?

Not entirely but I think some of the recent wave of experimental first-person adventure games like Dear Esther, Gone Home, and The Stanley Parable may have influenced me in some ways. Each of them defies some traditional aspect of “what is a game?” and I think that is my primary intention with Exist as well. In terms of a more direct influence, I think Dear Esther‘s use of environment as a tool to convey its story (environmental storytelling, in simpler words) definitely inspired me in some way when I was initially designing Exist.

Have there been other games which you think tackle problems of existence and social injustice well?

I think Planescape: Torment remains as the most significant game to have dealt with such philosophical themes directly, although its concerns were more with how mortality and identity are tied to one’s memories. Exist on the other hand deals with some of the more fundamental questions related to our purpose, transient nature of happiness, and hatred which bear heavy on its characters’ minds.

Social injustice has rarely been presented properly in games as far as I’m aware. The most you’ll see is the occasional dilemma brought up in RPGs where certain races/species are poorly treated by the society. But such games don’t directly affect players. It often boils down to a simple “black or white” decision.