Carnival Reveal

Some places should not exist.
Others… simply should not be remembered.

Carnival is one of them.

Let’s talk about Carnival

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Since 2018, we have been working on this project—the one that gave origin to our story. Since its conception, it has gone through countless changes, but we have finally found a clear direction and a defined path.

Carnival was born as an ambitious idea: a psychological horror game that would pay tribute to the most iconic works of the genre, while allowing us to carve our own path within the industry. In its early stages, we began by designing classic mechanics: first-person camera, flashlight usage, dense atmosphere building… everything you would expect.

However, there came a point where we felt we were replicating known formulas. Everything started to feel like “more of the same,” and that went against what we wanted to build. That was when we decided to return to the core of the project and rethink its foundations, focusing not on what a horror game should be, but on what it should make you feel.

Inspiration

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Our main reference comes from a very specific experience: the feeling of playing Silent Hill 1 ¹ at a time when there was no immediate access to guides, when language was a barrier, and getting lost was an essential part of the journey. That uncertainty of not knowing where to go, what to do, or even what is happening is the kind of psychological horror we aim to recreate.

Nowadays, many games in the genre rely heavily on jump scares: sudden stimuli accompanied by loud sounds and abrupt imagery. While we understand their effectiveness, we consider them an easy resource—an immediate reaction that does not necessarily build a lasting experience.

Regarding visuals, while realism can intensify the experience, we do not consider it a requirement. There are works that, without pursuing photorealism, manage to create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Silent Hill 1 is, once again, a key reference in this regard.

Our goal is clear: to build an uncomfortable, tense, and persistent atmosphere. A type of fear that does not depend on shocks, but on anticipation, doubt, and player interpretation. To achieve this, we must move away from obvious paths.

The infamous clichés

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For better or worse, many current experiences are predictable. It is common to anticipate a character’s role, guess where an event will occur, or recognize when the game is about to try to scare you. These patterns break immersion.

In Carnival, we are actively working to avoid those clichés. We want the player to never feel completely sure about what comes next, ensuring that every decision and every step maintains a constant sense of uncertainty. To achieve this, we place special emphasis on both narrative and the exploration mechanics we are developing.

Gameplay

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Initially, the project was designed as a cooperative multiplayer experience. However, during development, we realized that this added unnecessary complexity, both technically and in terms of player experience.

For this reason, the first versions of Carnival will focus on single-player. Even so, we have laid the groundwork for a future implementation of a multiplayer mode for up to four players. This mode will not simply be an extension of the single-player experience, but a variant with its own differences, offering new ways to experience the game and increasing replayability.

Another of our influences comes from the zombies mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 ², not because of its theme or zombies themselves, but because of how it handles easter eggs. The idea of fulfilling specific conditions, in a certain order, to unlock content or narrative fragments is an approach we have adapted into our design.

That said, we can already tell you—it won’t be easy to discover them.

In general terms, the player will find themselves in a constant state of vulnerability: no weapons, no maps, no clear instructions. Carnival is designed as an experience that recaptures the pure essence of exploration, where progressing means confronting both the environment and your own uncertainty.

What is Carnival?

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We can define the main concept with this premise: Carnival does not seek to constantly scare you—it seeks to make you feel unsafe at all times.

It is an experience where uncertainty is part of the design, where answers are not always clear, and where moving forward means accepting that not everything has an immediate explanation. Here, fear is not always visible… but it is always present.

Carnival is not just a game—it is a place, and you are only seeing the beginning. We will not reveal everything at once; every detail, mechanic, and fragment of its story will be uncovered little by little.

If you decide to step in, do so knowing one thing: Not everyone who enters… leaves the same way.

That’s all for now; we’ll see you in the next devlog.