Welcome to Hell
Welcome to Hell, is a puzzle/management game I created solo for entry to Epic Megajam 2022 with the
theme: 'As Above, So Below'.
This Jam I wanted to push myself to see what I could acieve as a solo developer on a tight schedule while also
having fleshed out visuals. So came this cute game set in an 80's style office in which you play as an admin of
Hell, whose job is to interview the sinners that come into your office and determine which circle of hell they
belong in.
The main focus of the game is the interviewing of the sinners, so I wanted to create a system for this that would
be fun as a game loop, provide challenge to increasing higher scores, and fit in with the aestetic of the setting.
This turned into two things: A survey system the player would fill out for the sinners, and the personalities of the
sinners effecting the score.
I created a dialogue system in which the player would be given three prompts on how to ask the same question; depending
on what the player chooses they would see a positive or negative response from the sinner. Depending on how the players
tailored their questions, it would help boost a multiplier of "Customer Statisfaction" for each sinner they process, thus
increasing the overall score.
The second was the survey system, which was a widget that is displayed on the monitor of the players desk. Depending on
the answers the sinners gave to certain questions the player would tick of the sin boxes on the form, and this would
increase or decrease the score for the circle of hell the sinner would end up in. Once ready, the player could process
the sinner and would be rewarded more, or less, points if they got the correct circle.
My secondary focus on this project was to create a styalized, good looking environment for the game world. For this I
used Blender to 3D model and texture the assets for the game; taking insparation from older office furniture and
appliances. As 3D modelling and texturing was not my focus this helped me learn a lot more about my perosnal pipeline
with 3D art, increase my skills using 3D modelling software, and show what I can do to make something look good in a
short amount of time.
Finally, once I had itterated on my systems and tested to a level I deemed acceptable, I wanted to shift focus
to bringing some life to the environment and level design. As this is set in such a small space there is not a lot of
effort needed to the layout of the office; however, some items, such as fallen cabinets and strewn chairs, would be used
in order to give the level more character and convey a story. Perhaps one of the sinners wasn't happy with their result
and trashed the place.
I also wanted to bring some interactivity to the level itself. The game is designed so that the player can start their shift
whenever they want using the computer system; this allows for some exploration for the player. In which I included come interactive
elements such as the ability to open drawers to find fun hidden secrets, and a chair with some "special" camera controls. I also
included the wall clock as part of the sameplay element, in which the minute hand will start to rotate when the players shift
starts giving an in world indication of how much time the player has left.
And finally for this, I wanted the game to have some fun in it's replayability; so many items in the office will change colours
or labels when a new game is started. Most prominently, A poster hanging on the wall behing the player will randomly selecct one
of ~30 AI generated motivational quotes, allowing for some funny surprises.
Overall, I'm really proud of myself for creating this as a solo developer.
This Jam pushed me to do things I haven't fully covered in development before, and allows me to see where I can make
improvements in my Design, Pipline, and Techical skills to bring the two together.
If you would like to play Welcome to Hell, you can find it by clicking the link below.
