[GUEST POST] Would you Survive an Abduction?

Kimberlee Soo

Guest Writer (TJC)

Would you Survive an Abduction?

In “Would you Survive an Abduction”, the players are thrust into one of the most traumatizing experiences a person could ever experience and will have to figure out how to escape with their lives.

The initial brainstorming/ideation phase:

Initially, I did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to create. After all, there’s not much to expect from a rough idea that had just come to me one day and seemed compelling enough to jot down and branch on in my Notes app.

Inspired by the many true crime podcasts and YouTube videos that I listen to or watch – I highly recommend checking out the podcast “Rotten Mango” – I had come up with the idea of a “daily life simulator”, where the character you play would go through multiple scenarios and you, as the player, would have to figure out which scenarios are safe or dangerous and keep the character safe for an entire day, similar to “Would You survive” YouTube videos.

Of course, after much thinking, I figured it would be too unrealistic for someone to go through a kidnapping, a robbery, and harassment all in one day.

Thus, I came up with my final idea which was “Would you Survive an Abduction?”, where the player would have to put themselves in the shoes of a kidnapped victim and make the correct decisions to survive.

Funnily enough, I had also come up with another idea that had entirely no relation to true crime or anything of the sort. The idea involved taking photos of specific local flora as tasked by the game, or in other words, a plant version of Pokemon Go.

However, I scrapped this idea rather quickly as I had wanted to make a game that was much closer to my interests and was more unique, and so finally, “Would you Survive an Abduction?” was made.

Desired outcome/goal

I found that you don’t necessarily need to be athletic or agile to survive a kidnapping; rather it takes someone with good survival instincts and knowledge to do so. Thus, through my game, I hope to inform people about what they can do in such a high-tension situation and keep themselves safe.

How the game works

Throughout the game, the players will find themselves playing a student. The game starts as they are on the way to school when suddenly, they are met with a thunderstorm. To make things worse, they left their umbrella at home and the nearest shelter is far away. Suddenly, a car pulls over and offers them a ride, which, the players are tasked with a decision that would determine their character’s safety.

After completing the challenge and making the right decision, an explanation will be given as to why that was the correct answer, and the character makes it to school safely.

Following that, in “Chapter 2 – No way home”, the character is on their way home when a car pulls up in front of them and yanks them into it, without having any time to react and the challenge finally begins.

Now, the safety of the character lies solely in the players’ hands and depends on the players’ ability to play their cards right in a kidnapping situation.

This game comprises a huge variety of challenges, such as multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions and prediction challenges.

Explanations and tips containing embedded content are also distributed around the game to improve the player’s understanding of the different scenarios and to provide additional tips on what you can do in a kidnapping situation or if someone you know has been kidnapped.

Additionally, I decorated the game with a variety of eye-catching images relating to the different chapters and challenges to build suspense.

Achievements have also been added to the game to give the players a little more motivation and put in even more effort in the game. For example, some achievements can only be achieved if the player has obtained the maximum number of points available.

Challenges

Being new to the Gametize platform, I did face my fair share of challenges while creating my game. For example, I had struggled with improving the look of my game, finding the right challenges for my game and so on.

Fortunately, with the guidance of my mentors, watching some tutorials and getting inspiration from the other games featured on the Gametize platform, these challenges were short-lived, and I managed to make a game that I am proud of.

Summary/conclusion

In short, I hope that by playing my game, the players will learn more about the ways that they can survive a dangerous situation in a one-of-a-kind way that is both exciting and memorable!

So, do you think you could survive an abduction? Check out the link below to test out your skills

https://gametize.com/gameteaser?id=10902