Game Pitch Competition - Round 7: "Pitch Black" (RESULTS)

[Snarky]

Game Pitch Competition â€" Round 7: "Pitch Black"

The object of the competition is to present the best possible "elevator pitch" for an original adventure game.
So, come up with a cool idea, and explain it very briefly to someone in order to catch their interest and make them excited about it. (Check out the last round to see how it goes.)

Theme
This time around, in honor of Halloween, there's a theme: Scary games. Your entry should fit the theme.
(Thanks to Mandle for the suggestion for theme and title of this round.)

Apart from that, the procedure and rules are as usual, except I don't think we'll bother playing the guessing game with the authors: I'll just post the list once the voting is over.

Procedure

• Submit your game pitch via this form.
• I will post the entries (anonymously) as they come in. Hopefully this will inspire others to join.
• Submissions close October 31st. I will then open a thread poll for voting.
• Voting will last 5 days (until November 6th). Discussion and feedback on the entries is encouraged, but make sure to maintain anonymity.
• After voting is over, the results and authors of each entry become public.

Rules

• The pitch should be for some kind of adventure game (under a broad definition of the genre).
• Stick to the word limits: An elevator ride is not that long! (If you run over, those parts will be placed behind spoiler tags.)
• You may submit only one entry in the round.
• The entry should be anonymous. Do not reveal your authorship until voting closes.
• Do not vote for your own entry. It's not cool.

All clear?
Then start sending in those pitches vote!

[Snarky]

Parlour Game
Sometimes you just have to trust in the kindness of strangers. At other times, well...

I fought back the urge to panic. Everyone smiling, urbane, civilised…this was just a silly parlour game. Those distant screams must be fake, surely! I sat in the chair, was blindfolded like the others, turned round and led through one of the doors. A cold wipe on my hand and then a sharp scratch, and…oblivion.
I woke up in the back of an SUV jouncing along a forest track. Some murder mystery weekend this was turning out to be!

[Snarky]

Tic, Tac & Toe versus Halloween
A "Don't let enter this Halloween freaks in the house" adventure.

Tic, his brother Tac and his sister Toe plays the same game every Halloween: nastily stamping a mark (cross, circle or triangle) on all the trick-or-treat kids that bother trying to enter the house from doors or windows. Choose your playable charachter and manage to stamp with hiis personal tools more kids than the other two, at the end of the night who win give a nasty penance to the losers.

[Snarky]

Bad Soil
Can you survive the house of horrors created by another player?

One player designs a "horror house" adventure game via the game's "level builder" feature. This includes number of rooms, puzzles, traps, supernatural foes, story elements etc.
Each addition costs build points. Available points can be limited or open.
Another player can download this "map" and either create a new "party" of investigators with the same point total or use a pre-existing "party" of their own to challenge the house with.
Successful parties gain XP.
Death is permanent.

[Snarky]

The Aparture
“Alexa, let's make an adventure game inspired by Rear Window and Paranormal Activity”

Francis was just trying to freeload off his neighbors' WiFi in the building where he just moved in, but he ends up with access to all the cameras and devices in their highly automated smart-home apartment â€" able to see, hear, and control connected gizmos. As he descends further and further into voyeurism, he starts to witness disturbing behaviors and inexplicable things happening. Madness, or something supernatural? And will his attempts to nudge events remotely help, or make things worse?

[Snarky]

Theta
Psychological thriller where you unlock horrific secrets as you strip away your own mental facade.

A new technology allows for memories to be recreated in a 3d holographic space.

Psychiatrist Kat Crosby has been using these recreations to better understand and treat her patients. Exploring the recreation of the survivor of an attempted murder, Kat is overwhelmed with a feeling of deja-vu and must stop the session.

Now haunted by nightmares, Kat must delve into her own memories, unlocking details hidden by her own mind, and confront her own horrific past to catch a killer.

[Snarky]

The Riverman
Who is the riverman? A psychological horror mystery.

Near the forest of Chugach in Alaska locals speak of the riverman. Campers are told to beware this beast or risk being eaten alive.
Robert Cooke, FBI investigator has been on the case for 11 years and is certain a serial killer is on the loose. At the latest crime scene, Robert finds his lost phone in a torn apart tent. Chocked by this finding, Robert doesn't report this. It must be some twisted mind game, right?

[Snarky]

This Is Sick
A patient is stuck in the hospital when a monster is lurking outside

Recovering from surgery, Hannah wasn't really up-to-speed about the latest world events. That THING is everywhere, and killing everything.
But for some reason, it doesn't get into hospitals. Is it afraid of something?

And it's intelligent. It floats outside, patiently waiting for their supplies to run out, and haunts them through the window, smiling.

The hospital is almost empty. Some tried to run, some just gave up on life.
Hannah's weak, but she will not give up.

[Snarky]

Haunted by the occult
A band of soldiers puzzling their way through dungeons, but time is limited

A mercenary band sacking Prague during the 30 years war stumbles into a maze of catacombs built by Rudolf II. Looking for treasure they unwittingly release an occult golem that chases them trough the catacombs. Fortunately the creature moves slowly, but in order to get out the band of different soldiers have to solve various traps and puzzles in order to escape. Each failure to solve a puzzle in time will result in someone getting killed by the golem.

[Snarky]

Digital Zombies
A deadly virus is changing humanity.

In the future, everyone is connected to cyberspace through cybernetic enhancements of varying degrees.

A computer virus has been infecting people and turning them into digital zombies.

You work as a software engineer, and you come home to discover that your husband has become infected.

Now you must work to track down the source code to stop the infection and save his life.

[Snarky]

OK, the time for submissions is over, and it's time to vote.
I've added a thread poll at the top, so choose the scary entry you like best!

[Mandle]

Voted!

Was a tough choice! There wasn't a single game that I wouldn't love to give a try!

[Durinde]

Voted!

Was a tough choice! There wasn't a single game that I wouldn't love to give a try!

Agreed, really had to mull over my vote for this one. Best of luck to everyone who entered!

[dactylopus]

I voted.  It came down to 2 for me.  Really good entries this round!

[Blondbraid]

I had a very hard time deciding, but I've voted. It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on the entries.

[Stupot]

For me, the choice was easy.
I need this game.

[Snarky]

I'm not a huge horror fan, but also had an easy choice given my tastes and preferences.

[cat]

Easy decision for me. Am I allowed to write short reviews now or should I wait until voting closes?

[Snarky]

Go ahead whenever, as long as it doesn't compromise anonymity.

Edit: In previous rounds I was a bit apprehensive that early reviews or people announcing their votes would bias later voters, but maybe that's OK? I'm pretty sure most of the votes are in now, anyway.

[Snarky]

OK, voting is over and the results are in.

This time around I thought I'd try skipping the guessing game and just revealing the identities of the people behind each entry straight away, so with five votes each, the joint winners are:

Theta by Durinde
and
The Aparture by Snarky

Congrats on another win, Durinde, and thanks to everyone who voted for my entry.

Here's the full list:

jahnocli â€" Parlour Game
TheFrighter â€" Tic, Tac & Toe versus Halloween
Mandle â€" Bad Soil
Snarky â€" The Aparture
Durinde â€" Theta
Bulbapuck â€" The Riverman.
tzachs â€" This Is Sick
Blondbraid â€" Haunted by the occult
dactylopus â€" Digital Zombies

Nice work, everybody!