You are stranded on a boat and must survive for 30 days to win. You avoid sun exposure, drink rainwater, and catch fish. To win, not only do you have to do everything correctly for 30 days, but you must also get lucky (for example, that it rains enough for you to stay alive.) The game is a metaphor for the daily struggles of real life and how even the most unthinkable situations can become boring and routine.
The goal of the game is not to be particularly stressful or intense, but rather present a life-threatening situation in such a way that it seems kind of routine (kind of like if you were playing Sims: Survival Edition). I would like for the game to induce introspection in the player, in a way that it forces the player to think about the routine they experience in their own lives.
Mechanics
- The game goes through sped-up day/night cycles, with one day lasting between 3-5 minutes.
- Thirst, hunger, exposure, and sleep levels are all kept track of. Various actions need to be performed to keep the levels in a good range to stay alive.
- Weather is randomly decided for every day, with a chance of getting sun, rain, clouds, or a storm.
- Being lost at sea is also a common metaphor in literature and film, so I want to reference that by having a narrator describe things that are happening in a way that feels like you’re reading a book.
Game References:
The Sims (performing actions over and over from day to day to fulfill your needs)
Murder Dog IV (having a narrator describe what is going on at the bottom of the screen, to add flavor and also reference “lost as sea” as a literary tradition)
Wind Waker (for the lowpoly boat and ocean imagery)
Non-Game References:
Life of Pi (the book goes extremely in depth about surviving alone at sea, describing everything from its boredoms to the regular routine chores required)
Vlogbrothers video about living with chronic illness (the idea about a “new normal” where your life changes drastically but you learn to become accustomed to it until it becomes routine)