Beyond Silence

I’ve drawn this storyboard based on the refined storyline for the game. The story begins with the sound of a door closing. The game’s map should have two floors: the first floor contains the nurse’s office, the inpatient ward, and the elevator; the second floor includes the activity area and a fake bus stop for residents.

The game will have four main events:

The player interacts with a nurse.

The player talks to a bedridden resident.

The player participates in a social activity in the nursing home.

The player discovers the nursing home’s setup of the fake bus stop.

The game ends with a sudden event—a heavy rainstorm hits the town at night, marking the death of an elderly resident. The player attends the funeral, gaining a deeper understanding of the concept of “life and death.”

The challenge is that this sudden event adds a sense of time depth to the game, which is slightly different from the previous storyboard's event structure. Now, I’m debating whether to implement an in-game time flow like Stardew Valley or to set a limited time for players, giving them different tasks to complete each day.

Some early stage storyboarding here. 

Game mechanics:

Exploration: Navigate the game and uncover key locations with clues.

Interaction: Unlock Ada’s memories by talking to NPCs and interacting with items.

Investigation: Ask questions, listen closely, and piece together the mystery of Ada's death.