Hi everyone,

In the last diary, I wrote about how we made Apopia – the art style, the world, the characters, the game engine etc.

This time, I want to talk about something more “under the hood”:

how we came up with the idea of 
”Dark World” and “Maitrick”(Mai’s mind reading ability).

and how they became the heart of the game, not just “features”.

From very early on, I knew I wanted the player to “dig deep”.

By “dig deep”, it means in various ways:

– Dig deep into the lore of the world.

– Dig deep into the secret mind world of the characters.

Everything looks simple and cute on the surface. But is that it? Once you “dig deep”, you will discover a whole new world.

I got this idea not just for the sake of the game system.

But it is my feeling towards the relationships in real world.

There’s always something in people’s mind that you would never reach.

I’ve always felt that in real life,

what hurts the most is what we *don’t* say.

The things we keep inside:

“I’m not good enough.”

“They don’t really love me.”

“I wish I could say I’m sorry.”

So I thought: “What if a game let you literally step into those unsaid thoughts?”

That’s how “Maitrick” was born: Mai’s ability to see into people’s minds.

But once we had the idea, we ran into a big question:

How do we make mind reading meaningful, not just a gimmick?

We didn’t want it to be a simple *scan *that just reveals hints, or random thoughts that don’t connect to the story.

So we built it this way:

Mind reading doesn’t just help with puzzles.

It changes how you see the characters.

Some characters say one thing out loud…

but their inner world tells a different story.

And instead of putting these ideas into dialogues,

I wanted to turn these into “Worlds” – That’s where the Dark Worlds came from.

They are not just scary versions of places.

They are physical spaces built from memories and emotions. That you can literally enter by using Mai’s Maitrick.

The design of Dark Worlds was a lot of trial and error.

The Dark World of every single character is different.

Sometimes the Dark Worlds were too obvious.  Like a cheap horror trick.

Sometimes they were too abstract.  Just felt too confusing for the players.

We tested and adjusted again and again,

until each Dark World felt like this:

“I don’t fully understand it yet…  but I *feel *what this character is going through.”

To be honest, building these systems was not the “efficient” path.

We could have just made a cute, simple adventure game.

But instead of just going through the surface layer of narration, I wanted you to:

– Step into their mind

– Walk through their fears

– and slowly understand why they are the way they are.

That’s the kind of game I want to play.  And I believe there’re people out there that *feel *the same.

One where, after you finish it, you don’t just remember the puzzles,

you remember how it made you feel about the people in it.

If you feel that while playing, we did our job.

Yours,

Onon

Director, Apopia