Design and implementation of a dual dimension detective horror game to enhance player tension and decision making

Lim, Si Kai (2026) Design and implementation of a dual dimension detective horror game to enhance player tension and decision making. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

This Final Year Project is about designing and developing a dual-dimension detective horror game. The main idea of the project is to let the player explore a normal world and a spirit dimension in the same environment. The normal world is mainly used for investigation, clue searching, and understanding the story. The spirit dimension is used to show hidden information, supernatural danger, and a darker version of the same place. The project looks at how this type of dimension switching can help create tension and affect player decision-making. When the player switches between the two worlds, the environment, clues, danger, and atmosphere can change. This makes the player think about when to stay in the normal world and when to enter the spirit dimension. A practice-based research method is used in this project. The game prototype is developed together with a questionnaire survey. The survey collects opinions from respondents about horror atmosphere, dual-dimension design, investigation gameplay, level design, navigation, and decision-making. The respondents were not required to play the prototype, so the results are used to support the design direction instead of proving the final effectiveness of the game. From the project, the dual-dimension idea can support detective horror gameplay by making players observe the environment, compare different versions of the same space, and make choices based on risk and reward. However, the prototype is still limited because of time and development scope. Future improvement can include clearer player guidance, better puzzle design, stronger visual and audio effects, and more advanced ghost behaviour.

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