Starry Nightmare!

The Starry Night

The Starry Nightmare by Vincent van Gogh has to be one of the most impressive paintings ever completed by the painter himself.  One of his most famous paintings, Van Gogh painted The Starry Night from the view he saw outside of his sanatorium window from which he was staying at the time.  Unlike many of his other works, Van Gogh painted The Starry Night purely from memory during the daytime instead of painting visually during the night.

Since this such a great piece of art, this week we were tasked with creating a game based on the emotions we felt while viewing this masterpiece.  After much deliberation with my group, we were all able to agree on the fact that this painting had a very different feeling about it.  While most people find this painting relaxing and calming, our group found that it made us feel cold, desolate, slightly fearful, and insignificant in the world.  From this point onward, we decided that since Van Gogh painted this during a time when his sanity was hanging by a thread, we would make a game that will pull at the players emotions and sanity.  This is how we designed our concept for Starry Nightmare.

Starry Nightmare is a new twist on art board games, as it is best played with only one player.  Multiple players can play the game, but it will love some of the deep meaning to the game while playing with others.  The player begins by arranging all of the Memory Tiles face down on the game board.  After this is completed, there will be four empty spots that must be filled on the board.  These tiles are the Key Memory Tiles and these are designed to allow the player to fill them with their own thought or positive memory.  Once the player has filled the board, they can begin moving their character.  The player can be placed on the board anywhere and will begin moving in a clockwise motion once they role the die.  When they land on a tile, they must pick up that tile and read it aloud to themselves.  The messages on the tile are used to inform the player of their decreasing sanity within the world.  To escape this world with their sanity still intact,  the player must attempt to remove all of the Memory Tiles, without landing on their Key Memory Tiles.  If the player lands on their four Key Memory Tiles, their mind has been lost and they descend into the cold, dark, loneliness that is Starry Nightmare.

The Game Board for Starry Nightmare!

   As a second part of the assignment, we needed to come up with a few games that portrayed the theme of the Starry Night.  Since the themes my group and I discovered were sadness, cold, desolate, and insignificance, here are the games I came up with:

Slender:   While walking through the cold dark forest, I personally felt as though the Starry Night atmosphere was portrayed perfectly.  This is because the player feels very alone and insignificant in this large forest.  Barren trees and old run down building portray a very cold fall night and help transport the player to the very forest they are trying to escape.  There is also a feeling that the player’s sanity is at a breaking point, similar to how Van Gogh was feeling when he painted Starry Night. 

I AM ALIVE: In this post-apocalyptic survival game, I felt that the image of Starry Night was portrayed fairly well throughout the entirety of the game.  The player adventures through a cold and desolate wasteland, fighting to find any form of food or water so they can survive for another day.  The player also experiences a deep sadness in the game as you search to find the protagonist’s family whom he lost over a year ago.  The player almost feels hopeless trying to find these people, as it seems as though no one could survive in the harsh landscape.

Amnesia:   Out of all of the games I have played, Amnesia has made me feel the most alone and insignificant in comparison to the huge castle landscape that can be explored in the game.  The feeling of sadness and deteriorating sanity is present throughout the entire game as the player unlocks the deep secrets of their past in the castle.  Amnesia is one of the few games I have played in which the feeling of melancholy stays with me long after I stop playing the game.   

Game Pieces for Starry Nightmare!

This was a very interesting take on a game style, as I have never designed a game that did not have to have some aspect of fun involved.  It is certainly a learning experience that I won't soon forget when I create my next game!