Ever wonder what it would be like to be locked inside a dark old abandoned building with four other people and no way out? What about if you found there was also something else locked in with you. Something you couldn’t really explain; almost didn’t want to explain. You could hear it at times. Pianos that somehow played by themselves. Footsteps when no one was there. The unearthly noise of a being just at the outskirts of your perimeter. Worse yet – what if you weren’t able to defend against this thing?
The only thing you would have left to do is run, and run like hell.
Damned is attempting to achieve this exact same scenario except one step better. Created by 9heads Game Studios, which is interestingly an indie game developer based in Brazil, Damned adds an unusual element to the game by allowing one player to also take on the role of the monster (or ghost) and hunt down their friends. It’s a randomized online game that has both cooperative and competitive gameplay. It’s currently only available for PC, but Aymar Pescador Jr – its programmer – said in an email that if they “feel a lot of people would enjoy playing on consoles or even on Mac/Linux, we may release Damned for other platforms.”
Damned takes place in a 1920’s haunted hotel that has been abandoned due to extreme violence having occurred during previous occupations and the now suspicions of supernatural events within its walls.
As a survivor, your goal is to escape this antique prison.
The way to do this changes each time you play. 9heads Game explains that “…in one gameplay you may have to power up the elevator and take it, in another gameplay (at the same stage), you may have to unlock the door leading to the upper floors, in a third gameplay your only way out may be going downstairs into the basement.”
You are equipped with a flashlight to help you navigate, but this blessing is a curse in disguise; it also allows the monster to see your location.
As the monster, your only desire is to kill the survivors trapped inside to satisfy your lust for blood.
Playing as the monster, you can assume two forms – physical and ethereal. In the ethereal form, you can’t see survivors and they can’t see you. However, you are able to haunt them which might increase their fear and panic. You can hunt them down and make them a little sloppy. Eventually, they will make a mistake, and you can make your move.
In your physical form you can see and hear everything, possess supernatural powers, and notice flashlights. All this allows you to go in for the kill. You must be quick, because this won’t last for long. You get a moment in this form to attack, but the energy it takes to keep up your physical manifestation becomes too much eventually. You must switch back. Regenerate.
Right now the game is a project on indiegogo.com, and is asking for $54,000 by July 1st. It currently sits at $651, so it has a lot to go.
This main target includes:
- 4 different survivors (the players will be able to choose which one they want to play with);
- 1 monster, with a very unique set of skills, abilities and mechanics;
- The entire first floor;
- 1 game mode (4 survivors x monster).
The developers also have additional amounts set which would further the game play even more including things such as new monsters, additional floors, and new game modes among others. There will first be an Alpha version of the game available.
“There once was a house. A bright happy home. Something bad happened. Now it sits all alone.”
Psychologically, there is always a deep fear in being trapped somewhere. People can exhibit some horribly strange and maybe even disturbing behavior. The game’s plot is reminiscent of The Haunting – a movie from 1999. In the movie, they are literally studying human fear especially within a group scenario. Except the twist is that in this movie the ghost story they use to inject this fear ends up being real.
Damned plays off the fear of being trapped and defenseless, and who knows where that may lead. Perhaps playing Damned, we might just come to see how well we know our friends – and ourselves.
