Dissonance Ward

Project Overview: Dissonance Ward (Working Title)

• Genre: Procedural Horror / Puzzle
• The Core Concept: A system-driven horror experience set in a hospital, combining the tension of anomaly detection with a roguelike map structure.
• My Role: Concept & System Designer
• Design Highlights: The game utilizes a 5x5 procedural grid map, ensuring no two playthroughs are the same. To survive, players must navigate through shifting environments, identify subtle anomalies, and manage a unique "multiple character personalities" mechanic that directly affects how the world is perceived and interacted with.

The Roguelike Grid: 5x5 Procedural Map

Instead of a linear hallway, the game utilizes a modular spatial puzzle.

• Dynamic Navigation: The hospital is generated as a 5x5 grid of rooms. Moving between rooms requires making directional choices based on environmental clues.
• The Loop: Failing to identify an anomaly or making the wrong directional choice shifts the grid. This resets progress or teleports the player to a more hostile section of the map, adding strong roguelike tension to the exploration.

Observation-Based Horror & Anomalies

Combat is non-existent; the player's only weapon is their memory and attention to detail.

• Subtle Shifts: Rooms establish a "baseline" state. The player must spot deviations—ranging from displaced medical equipment and shifting shadows to architectural impossibilities.
• Risk vs. Reward: Correctly identifying an anomaly grants safe passage closer to the exit, while failing to notice them triggers psychological deterioration or enemy encounters.

The Multi-Personality Mechanic (Perception Shift)

The standout systemic feature of the game is the protagonist's fractured psychological state.

• Mechanic Impact: The active personality fundamentally changes how the game world is perceived. An anomaly that is invisible to one personality might be glaringly obvious to another.
• Strategic Balancing: Forcing a personality switch is not free; it might trigger specific phobias, audio-visual hallucinations, or movement constraints. The player must constantly balance their psychological state against the environmental puzzles.