Playground

[spacezeta]

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Six students decide to try out this mysterious board game – only to find out that aside from its strange rules and nondescript title, it's also unplayable – so they quickly forget about it. However, the game hasn't forgotten them.

The students are whisked away to a twisted version of their school, where they find themselves surrounded by traps, deadly puzzles and menacing creatures chasing after them. There is no other way out, they must finish the game if they want to survive.

Playground is a story-focused, puzzle-solving rpg horror game. Take control of all six main characters throughout the story as you make your way through the cursed school, trying to solve the mystery behind the curse and struggling to stay alive. The main gameplay feature is the solving of puzzles by interacting with objects, reading notes, picking up items and figuring out what's going to kill you and what's not. It'll feature different endings that you can get depending on your choices during the game, although the gameplay itself is quite linear. Despite the gameplay's simplicity, it's a very story-heavy game so it'll feature plenty of dialogue-heavy and interaction between the characters. Horror-wise, it doesn't have many jumpscares and it relies on a creepy atmosphere to make the game spooky.

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Here's a short teaser of the game, featuring a little of gameplay, original artwork and original score!​

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[Developer blog]​

[developer notes]

This actually started out as a different game with a similar concept (I actually posted the previous game here in early project development – it was called Fractured) but then I lost inspiration less than halfway through and I think you know how it goes. However, some time ago inspiration struck me again, but to do something different. I didn't want to completely abandon the previous concept because I'm actually very fond of it (mostly the ending… you'll see. Once the game is done) but I did change it quite a bit. And Playground was born!

Although I did have to start from scratch pretty much, most of the story ideas and basic character traits remain unchanged. But it's not like it matters to anyone except myself because I didn't even get to upload a demo for the last one, haha

Also, this was my first time venturing into music-making shenanigans and it was quite the work! But hey, live and learn, right?

[development notes]

The game is about (maybe a little less) than halfway done. If I had to divide the game into chapters I'd say it's two out of four, but since I don't know the size of said last two chapters (I'm making it up as I go along) I can't be sure.

Please say so if you find any bugs/grammatical errors/any other stuff! Thoughts and critiques are also appreciated c: 

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Script credits:

• Yanfly
• Yami
• Hime Works
• Galv's Message Busts

(November 11) Demo updated!​

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Demo 1.3 without RTP (157.13 M​

Demo 1.3 with RTP (343.64 M​

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The demo has been updated (again) to fix a couple of bugs that were pointed out to me. That damn first puzzle...​

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Also click here to check out a walkthrough of the demo, I tried keeping it as spoiler-free possible, but you know. There's bound to be a couple, so beware!​

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• This demo should be about 30min~1hour long, depending on how long it takes for you to solve stuff.
• It features the first chapter of the game (except for its ending. I'm not giving that away just yet, haha)
• If you find any bugs or errors, please report! I'll do my best to fix them.
• Also I would love feedback on the puzzles' difficulties, if you found them too hard or too easy or too boring. It would help out a lot!
• Actually, just any feedback in general would be awesome.

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Anyway, thanks for taking an interest! c:​

 

[hiromu656]

This looks promising, hope you keep at it! Going to try out the demo soon, it's a bit surprising the game file is so large for being without RTP (I can guess why that is of course), just know that for many it can be a turn off. I will give a bit of feedback once I've gotten through the Demo.

 

[Aoi Ninami]

Well, I really like what I've seen so far, but I'm afraid I'm stuck on the first puzzle:

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The text "Can't start the game without knowing the rules" suggests that I need to find all the rules before I can move on. I've found four -- and most of them just stated obvious things that I didn't really need to know -- but I feel I've examined every object in the classroom without further progress. Not knowing how many rules there are is annoying: you could fix that by having the pieces of paper say "Rule 1 of 7" or whatever.

Feedback so far (mainly on the intro section):

Spoiler

Great atmosphere and music.
Examining the doors of other classrooms brings up the unhelpful message "Your classroom is 2-2". I know I want to go to my own classroom, but for whatever reason I've chosen to look at the door of this classroom first, so it should at least say "This is classroom 3-1. It is empty." or something like that.

The same talk box format is used for characters' speech and intervening narrative segments. Maybe put narrative segments in italics to clearly distinguish them?

The clock on the wall shows 4:15 even though the characters say it's 3:52 or some other time (I forget exactly).

During the puzzle, I had previously examined the teacher's desk and got no response, so I rejected it as being a non-interactive object. Later I found one of the rules there. I'm not sure whether that's because the "look under" event is in front (if so, you should change that) or whether the note mysteriously appears. If it's the latter, I would make looking under the desk too soon bring up a "You found nothing" message so we know it's interactive.

Pressing Escape to bring up the menu, it has only the options "Return to title" and "Exit", no "Resume game". Sure, I know I can resume by pressing Escape again, but another player may not.

How do I save? You've got to provide a way of saving in the first puzzle area so that I don't have to watch the lengthy intro over again if something goes wrong, e.g. I'm called away from my computer.

A few missing words:

Eri: "Did it get dark all of [a] sudden?"

Takashi: "This wasn't here a minute [ago]"

"The paper is torn at the bottom, probably meaning that there [are] other rules"

"There's a giant hole on the floor" -- should be in. And it doesn't look much larger than the many other holes. Why does only this one generate a response?

 

[spacezeta]

Well, I really like what I've seen so far, but I'm afraid I'm stuck on the first puzzle:

Spoiler

The text "Can't start the game without knowing the rules" suggests that I need to find all the rules before I can move on. I've found four -- and most of them just stated obvious things that I didn't really need to know -- but I feel I've examined every object in the classroom without further progress. Not knowing how many rules there are is annoying: you could fix that by having the pieces of paper say "Rule 1 of 7" or whatever.

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Feedback so far (mainly on the intro section):

Great atmosphere and music.
Examining the doors of other classrooms brings up the unhelpful message "Your classroom is 2-2". I know I want to go to my own classroom, but for whatever reason I've chosen to look at the door of this classroom first, so it should at least say "This is classroom 3-1. It is empty." or something like that.

The same talk box format is used for characters' speech and intervening narrative segments. Maybe put narrative segments in italics to clearly distinguish them?

The clock on the wall shows 4:15 even though the characters say it's 3:52 or some other time (I forget exactly).

During the puzzle, I had previously examined the teacher's desk and got no response, so I rejected it as being a non-interactive object. Later I found one of the rules there. I'm not sure whether that's because the "look under" event is in front (if so, you should change that) or whether the note mysteriously appears. If it's the latter, I would make looking under the desk too soon bring up a "You found nothing" message so we know it's interactive.

Pressing Escape to bring up the menu, it has only the options "Return to title" and "Exit", no "Resume game". Sure, I know I can resume by pressing Escape again, but another player may not.

How do I save? You've got to provide a way of saving in the first puzzle area so that I don't have to watch the lengthy intro over again if something goes wrong, e.g. I'm called away from my computer.

A few missing words:

Eri: "Did it get dark all of [a] sudden?"

Takashi: "This wasn't here a minute [ago]"

"The paper is torn at the bottom, probably meaning that there [are] other rules"

"There's a giant hole on the floor" -- should be in. And it doesn't look much larger than the many other holes. Why does only this one generate a response?

Thank you so much for the response!

I already felt like I should change something on the first puzzle and your response has definitely solidified that! I'll be sure to change stuff to make things less difficult/frustrating. But meanwhile, here's a list of the rules' locations if you want so you can progress:

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1. Paper to the right of the blackboard
2. Cabinet to the left of the board
3. The front of the teacher's desk
4. Right closet on the bottom
5. After you collect the first four, you'll hear a noise. Check the clock on the left side.

Well, at least the other puzzles aren't (hopefully) as frustrating as this one.

The save point is after the first area, and you can hold CTRL to skip through text I plan to add an option to the menu so you can see the controls and whatnot and I'll also see to the Resume game thing. I'll check the other things you mentioned as well, especially the grammar and stuff (I blame some of them on my forgetfulness and not realizing I had forgotten to type in a certain word, but others I'm gonna have to blame on English not being my first language. I really should get someone to spellcheck and correct things.) Thank you so much!

 

[spacezeta]

I've updated the demo! Now I've decreased the file size for the no RTP one and added one with the RTP. I've also fixed a couple of things, especially concerning the first puzzle. And also here's a walkthrough for the demo! I tried keeping it as spoiler-free possible, but you know. There's bound to be a couple, so beware!

Demo 1.2 without RTP (157.13 M

Demo 1.2 with RTP (343.65 M

Development-wise, I'm moving on to the third chapter now, but there's gonna be a busy month ahead of me so I don't know how much I can progress, but I'm hoping for the best, haha

 

[spacezeta]

The demo has been updated again! 

I fixed a couple of bugs which included the door not unlocking on the first puzzle if you didn't check a certain thing first, as well being stuck in the first hallway due to some last minute changes on my part (I can't believe I didn't see that one... I feel so unprofessional oops)

Demo 1.3 without RTP (157.13 M

Demo 1.3 with RTP (343.64 M

 

[hiromu656]

Here's a bit of feedback, planned to do this earlier, but didn't have the time (this is based on demo 1.3)

Everything in the spoilers are literally spoilers! Just a heads up to passersby!

Intro Feedback:

Spoiler

I played the first version for 5 minutes or so before noticing you made this new update, and one of the first issues I found are still here D:

At the very start of the game you're supposed to go to your classroom, and that's really all you're told. You get additional information on your classroom (being that it's Room 2-2) by checking incorrect doors, and going down the wrong hallways and being told you're going the wrong way. I have to sort of guess until I'm on the right track to the classroom, which would be very uncharacteristic of a character who (i assume) is already familiar with the school's layout. If you're going to tell me where to go, do it right away (and do it once) or have clear in game directions for me to follow (meaning a sign on the wall for example, instead of "Your room is on the other side"). You may think I'm making a big deal of that, and I probably am, but small fixes like this help remove the 'THIS IS A GAME' factor and makes it more immersive - which I would think horror games seek to achieve. Moving on from that, having there be no music during the initial board game scene feels really odd. When you do the countdown from one day all the way to the 17th, simply put: Don't do that. If you want to convey that it's the 17th now, just tell me it's the 17th, I already know that 17 is after 16 and 16 is after 15. If you really want to keep that transition, try to make it more interesting, because right now it's not. Again, very small issue, but small things are important.

Main (?)Feedback:

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When you first enter the board game world, there's still no music, but once you exit the room, you start playing music. This ambient noise is REALLY good, and there's no reason not to use it the moment you enter the board game world to set the mood right from the start. The broken classroom looks really awesome and the way that the level changes and your actions trigger physical events is great and hopefully you keep doing that throughout the game! This first paper finding puzzle is a bit confusing. Although I didn't have much trouble realizing what you intended for me to do, I can see many people not knowing what to do. Try to make the player have a small phrase that clues you into literally looking for the missing rules. Also, try to get the papers to stand out more, they're hard to make out as being paper, especially the one lodged in the closet. You don't need to make them look more like paper, just make them look important enough to interact with. I think you should consider getting new "Cancel" and "Save" sound files, these ones don't fit well in my opinion. I liked the hopscotch puzzle, I died once, it wasn't too clear that you should jump on 2 numbers at a time the first way through, but putting the stone on 7 was clearly established earlier on the phone (which was also a really nice touch). 

After the Locker scene, which is also quite nice, the music in the Hallway goes away. I'm assuming that's a bug. You should put the Stairway Key somewhere else, it's much too close to the actual locked Stairway. Or, put a little event after finding the Key so that it doesn't feel poorly done. I liked the next section with the two girls, one issue I had was, what was the clue to make you destroy the Orange Piggybank specifically, I actually just looked at your walkthrough instead of guessing, I thought I would die for picking the wrong one D: . With the third character you play with, there's a room that has Blue Buckets on the floor, the first two (from the left) you can walk right over them, so a pass-ability issue. In that same room, it's a bit odd that you get 5 Doll Heads and can choose any bucket to put the doll head into. And it's very obvious which Bucket to interact with afterwards. Considering the demo ends so soon after this point, I think this is still being worked on. It's a bit too uninteresting of a puzzle and you can definitely do a lot more with it. 

Just to wrap some things up: work on making things more clear for the player, and fix those bugs of course. Your puzzles are strong early on, but begin to get weaker as the game goes on. Switching between the character's perspectives is a really smart move, I enjoyed that a lot. Your mapping is really great and the game has excellent atmosphere so far. That part where you had to hide in the Locker was the most suspenseful moment and I hoped there to be more in the Demo, but there were not. Just make sure to do more of that down the road, as you're quite good at storytelling and (again) atmosphere. 

Non spoiler feedback: Mapping is very well done and you do a great job of creating atmosphere. I didn't notice any grammar issues to be honest, but they may have been in there. If I replayed I might find some if I looked hard enough. The intro could use some work, but the rest of the game is very strong. Your characters are interesting and you've definitely got a gift for storytelling. I'm really interested in where the story goes next, the small hints here and there get me excited for things to come. I wish you the best of luck, this is easily the most well done RM game (Demo) I've played in a while.

 

[spacezeta]

Here's a bit of feedback, planned to do this earlier, but didn't have the time (this is based on demo 1.3)

Everything in the spoilers are literally spoilers! Just a heads up to passersby!

Intro Feedback:

Spoiler

I played the first version for 5 minutes or so before noticing you made this new update, and one of the first issues I found are still here D:

At the very start of the game you're supposed to go to your classroom, and that's really all you're told. You get additional information on your classroom (being that it's Room 2-2) by checking incorrect doors, and going down the wrong hallways and being told you're going the wrong way. I have to sort of guess until I'm on the right track to the classroom, which would be very uncharacteristic of a character who (i assume) is already familiar with the school's layout. If you're going to tell me where to go, do it right away (and do it once) or have clear in game directions for me to follow (meaning a sign on the wall for example, instead of "Your room is on the other side"). You may think I'm making a big deal of that, and I probably am, but small fixes like this help remove the 'THIS IS A GAME' factor and makes it more immersive - which I would think horror games seek to achieve. Moving on from that, having there be no music during the initial board game scene feels really odd. When you do the countdown from one day all the way to the 17th, simply put: Don't do that. If you want to convey that it's the 17th now, just tell me it's the 17th, I already know that 17 is after 16 and 16 is after 15. If you really want to keep that transition, try to make it more interesting, because right now it's not. Again, very small issue, but small things are important.

Spoiler

Main (?)Feedback:

When you first enter the board game world, there's still no music, but once you exit the room, you start playing music. This ambient noise is REALLY good, and there's no reason not to use it the moment you enter the board game world to set the mood right from the start. The broken classroom looks really awesome and the way that the level changes and your actions trigger physical events is great and hopefully you keep doing that throughout the game! This first paper finding puzzle is a bit confusing. Although I didn't have much trouble realizing what you intended for me to do, I can see many people not knowing what to do. Try to make the player have a small phrase that clues you into literally looking for the missing rules. Also, try to get the papers to stand out more, they're hard to make out as being paper, especially the one lodged in the closet. You don't need to make them look more like paper, just make them look important enough to interact with. I think you should consider getting new "Cancel" and "Save" sound files, these ones don't fit well in my opinion. I liked the hopscotch puzzle, I died once, it wasn't too clear that you should jump on 2 numbers at a time the first way through, but putting the stone on 7 was clearly established earlier on the phone (which was also a really nice touch). 

After the Locker scene, which is also quite nice, the music in the Hallway goes away. I'm assuming that's a bug. You should put the Stairway Key somewhere else, it's much too close to the actual locked Stairway. Or, put a little event after finding the Key so that it doesn't feel poorly done. I liked the next section with the two girls, one issue I had was, what was the clue to make you destroy the Orange Piggybank specifically, I actually just looked at your walkthrough instead of guessing, I thought I would die for picking the wrong one D: . With the third character you play with, there's a room that has Blue Buckets on the floor, the first two (from the left) you can walk right over them, so a pass-ability issue. In that same room, it's a bit odd that you get 5 Doll Heads and can choose any bucket to put the doll head into. And it's very obvious which Bucket to interact with afterwards. Considering the demo ends so soon after this point, I think this is still being worked on. It's a bit too uninteresting of a puzzle and you can definitely do a lot more with it. 

Just to wrap some things up: work on making things more clear for the player, and fix those bugs of course. Your puzzles are strong early on, but begin to get weaker as the game goes on. Switching between the character's perspectives is a really smart move, I enjoyed that a lot. Your mapping is really great and the game has excellent atmosphere so far. That part where you had to hide in the Locker was the most suspenseful moment and I hoped there to be more in the Demo, but there were not. Just make sure to do more of that down the road, as you're quite good at storytelling and (again) atmosphere. 

Non spoiler feedback: Mapping is very well done and you do a great job of creating atmosphere. I didn't notice any grammar issues to be honest, but they may have been in there. If I replayed I might find some if I looked hard enough. The intro could use some work, but the rest of the game is very strong. Your characters are interesting and you've definitely got a gift for storytelling. I'm really interested in where the story goes next, the small hints here and there get me excited for things to come. I wish you the best of luck, this is easily the most well done RM game (Demo) I've played in a while.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

Yes, the first part is a bit empty as of now and I've had quite a few people telling me about the whole 'finding your classroom is confusing' thing so I do plan to change it in the full game c: I also want to add more things that you can interact with in the school, but I'm leaving that for after I finish the rest of the game first, haha. For instance, I want to add a 'bonus room' at the end of each chapter that you can access unlockable bonus scenes and other stuff (such as character profiles) and I might add some of those things to the first school area. And about the music of the board scene (and other scenes in general) is just that I haven't made the right music for those yet :> making decent music is hard

About the orange piggy bank,

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did you go to the room on the far right of the second floor? There's a book there that tells the story of the little piggies, which is the clue to the piggy bank puzzle. What worries me is that it might be a bit too dark to some people so I might brighten it up a little in the full game.

Puzzle-wise, I sort of suck xD Well, maybe not really, but it's just that, as a newbie, sometimes I get hit by this awesome puzzle idea and I put that in the game, but sometimes (most of the time) not so much. So it's kind of a struggle to come up with good puzzles and I'm working on that :> I agree that some of them still need work, but I'm trying to have at least one hard-ish puzzle per chapter for now. But again, due to time constraints and inspiration, I'm trying to finish up the game and then go back to do some tweaking afterwards. As of now, unless there's some bug that makes the demo unplayable, I probably won't go back to change anything in it (because real life is busy busy) so I guess you'd have to wait for the full game oops

But thank you again! I'll take your other comments into consideration and tweak whatever is necessary (which includes plenty of bug fixing) c: And I'm really glad you enjoyed the atmosphere and the story ^^ I was kinda betting on those two to be the strongest points of the game so I'm relieved, haha

 

[Shuya]

Oh my god, the screen effect of the dark and the atmosphere make my heart *bomping* while playing great job.