What is Phantastic Whimsies?
As someone with a heart condition and a love for video games I noticed that there was little to no representation of those who might have to monitor themselves when delving into horror games. This project is my senior capstone project that served as a solution to the lack of accessibility for individual with heart conditions. I couldn’t actively code this game, but I had the ability to research and build a world around proposed mechanics and lore.
This included four phases of research, brainstorming, world building, and concept art. Phantastic Whimsies, a horror themed video game concept takes place in the late 19th century and dwells on June and Dimitri's varying perceptions of the world and their reactions to the unknown that awaits within darkness.
Understanding it.
I wanted to look into the horror genre and truly understand why people enjoy it. Beginning this project in late September 2020 I began to look at why it is that the general public might get scared through the use of research, surveys, ethnographic studies, and literature reviews. I came to the conclusion that those that enjoy the thrill of horror are safely facing their fears and that the average person (according to my 100+ person survey) prefers psychological thrillers and supernatural horror media.
Creating it.
It dawned on me that if I was to raise awareness for those that want to enjoy horror but can’t participate in these games the way developers intended, then I must make my own game concept that encourages this. It took me months to finally title this project Phantastic Whimsies. I hadn’t made a world of my own before so I took to the books to better capture this idea that was in my head as it pertained to game narrative.
For reference to the research conducted for this project please review the Phantastic Whimsies (previously Concept of Fear) Process Book. Special thanks to Aaron Lemay, John Keeyes, and Dan Faltesek who provided me with industry and academic insight via interviews. Additional thanks to Abby Mason, who was a key collaborator in brainstorming, to my parents, and lastly thank you to the artists and musicians that collaborated with me: Eevee Gaither, Rae Ma, and Eric Moen.