Flashlight — LD
Overview
A confined, top-down horror space built around a single tension: the flashlight that lets you see is the same thing that draws the monsters in. The level loops back on itself so light, navigation, and threat stay permanently in conflict.
Contributions
- Circular layout — non-linear paths that fold back to key points and minimise dead-end backtracking.
- Wires as cues — environmental guides that double as puzzle clues through the dark.
- Light-as-lure tuning — monster placement that forces strategic use of the flashlight.
Design Goals
Whitebox layout — the looping floor plan
Three things to hold
Every space had to carry one of three loads — atmosphere, mechanic, or escalation. If a room didn't, it folded back into the loop.
- Immersive horror atmosphere — confined spaces and lighting that build tension and suspense.
- Strategic flashlight mechanics — the light's role in attracting monsters, balancing navigation against manipulation.
- Progressive challenge — mechanics and threats introduced gradually, then escalated with puzzles.
Design Process
Circular routing (left) · wires lead room to room (right)
Circular layout, wires as cues
Circular level design encourages exploration with natural, non-linear paths that lead back to key points — minimising unnecessary backtracking.
Wires are run through the dark, confined spaces as a visual cue, doubling as clues to solve puzzles and orient the player without a map.
Light draws monsters (left) · revisiting earlier rooms (right)
Light as a lure, level reused
Flashlight mechanics — monsters are positioned to require strategic light use, so navigating and managing threat are the same decision.
Backtracking & level reuse — puzzles send players back through earlier areas to retrieve key items, deepening their mastery of the space and stretching a small level further.
Playthrough
Full playthrough of the level
End-to-end run
A recorded walkthrough of the loop in play — the wire trail, the light management, and the moments where the level turns back on itself.