Game Design: I see you
I See You is an interactive story that tracks the player's eye movements.
The game utilizes an eye-tracker mostly for passive gaze interactions to create immersive moments, reacting to what the player sees. It allows players to hallucinate objects that appear normal when looked at directly, it shapes its story paths based on what the player observes, and explores many other features - all focused on the players eyes.
Featured in multiple Exhibitions like the 2024 Ars Electronica Festival and JKU GAMES 2024W.
We are currently a finalist of the
2024 SUBOTRON Live Pitch Contest,
and on our way to be featured in many more events.
While the gameplay is limited to walking and interacting, the game focuses on many eye-tracking features.
most noticeable:
The player-character
is rigged and animated
to always mimic
the players gaze!
My part in this Project:
I created and lead this project, and am responsible for the concept, game design and story.
After the script was done, my main focus shifted to sound design, music, programming and team management.
Additionally, I supported other areas of work when my help was needed, either with research in technical solutions or by simply taking some of the work-load off of animations or asset creation.
Mostly passive, some active:
A big step for game design was the decision to focus mainly on passive interactions, as opposed to active ones.
Passive gaze interactions do not ask the player to control mechanics with their eyes, which we found out gets exhausting quickly, instead they create change within the game as a response to the players gaze.
The screen glitches
while you look at the mirror,
a tool we use to foreshadow
the mirrors importance!
Story Paths:
The game also tracks which objects the player looks at more than others, which affects the story paths the player experiences!
There are 4 different stories within I see you, during each play-through two of these stories are triggered, depending on the players focus.
One of my animations!
This poor creature
transforms into a monster
if the player looks at it
for too long
Active features:
Sometimes we throw in some features which use the eye-tracking more actively.
These features include among others:
-
Finding something on the screen
(see video). -
Following a moving object on the screen with their eyes.
-
The player is warned not to blink for a certain duration.
-
The player is warned not to look at a certain point.
-
The player is asked to keep their eyes closed for a time.
While these mini-events are kept really simple, they are important to break up the regular gameplay and remind the player of their gaze and its effects on the game.
Immersive features:
These mechanics use eye-tracking to enhance the story-telling.
Some examples are:
-
Hallucinations - the game can change sprites while the player is looking elsewhere or is blinking.
-
Dissolving world - the game-world dissolves where-ever the player looks at, creating the effect of seeing everything a very last time before it is gone forever (see video).
this is definitely
my favourite
mechanic