🎮 The Horror of Blackthorne Manor

A horror game prototype based on the game Betrayal at house on the hill.

Blackthorne Manor is a single-player dark horror experience that puts you in the boots of Cally, a highly Intelligent and Cunning woman who has just been given the keys to this mysterious Manor house. You play through her first experiences within the house, seeing each room for the first time at the same time she does. But things are not as they seem, unknown people, ghosts, and spirits roam freely. It’s your job to work out why and uncover a huge secret in the process.

My role on this project was mainly to lead the team of 4 that I was in to produce a game based on a round of the ‘Horror at House on the Hill’ board game. Each week we would also follow the project management methodology we were using and learn more about both waterfall and agile methodologies while producing the game. As team leader I was responsible for assigning tasks to each team member, keeping track of progress made, arranging and leading team meetings each week as well as completing project management documentation.

I also had a major role on the game itself, I worked mostly on programming and 3D modeling. In the early weeks I created the modular walls and doorways used in the project and programmed the dialogue and inventory systems for the game. The rooms in the house were divided up as evenly as possible between the team members, I was personally responsible 7/8 of the rooms including the classroom, art room and main entrance.

This project was far from an easy one, leading a team was new to me and while I learned a lot through the experience I felt I could have done a better job. I felt I should have been more decisive with my decision making and made sure the game was actually complete. The final product we made was far from finished with the entire final encounter missing. While I’m proud of some parts of the project such as the inventory and item management, I felt the game was far too scripted and could have used a win and lose case for each room to make it feel like the player had control over what was happening.