MUST. is a first-person puzzle game aimed to illustrate the life of someone that suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The player goes through the anxiety-inducing lifestyle of having daily intrusive thoughts which are represented through aggravating sounds. The only way to relieve such thoughts is to arrange objects in a neat manner. Each correctly placed item gradually reduces the noise giving the player enough relief to leave the house for the day and sleep for the night.

Credit to Pixabay for original sounds. I used FL Studio to put the composition together and edited + mixed all sounds to fit the vibe.

As concepting was heading toward creating a mental Doppelgänger, it meant that the perception of the player had to be changed.

I thought about how people with OCD have to change what they perceive to their liking in order to gain relief, and even if they have made changes, intrusive thoughts will force them through the cycle all over again. This is conveyed through the day and night cycle.

By associating audio with the moveable objects, this would teach the player about how arranging them would give relief.

Proposing this meant I had to work on the audio myself, which is not my usual role in any project, but I had a lot of fun making these tracks haunting.

The prototype only highlights one scenario [of day & night]. The gameplay loop would feature the following: after passing each scenario, the next would increase the amount of objects that would have to be arranged. Eventually, the last scenario would mean all objects would need to be arranged, and the protagonist’s anxiety is at their peak.