Malcolm McDonough
Overview
My Responsibilities:
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Designed all core mechanics (Entanglement, mechanisms, photo-taking gameplay) to create a cohesive foundation for the game.
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Implemented proof-of-concept prototypes of experimental mechanics and puzzle elements to illustrate potential applications of new ideas.
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Developed documentation strategies to ensure seamless communication of ideas between team members.
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Collaborated with artists, programmers, and other designers to bring ideas from their conception to full implementation while preserving the intentions central to their design.
Eye of the Erime is a first-person physics-based puzzle/exploration game where players navigate through the ruins of an ancient subterranean civilization solving puzzles by taking photos of supernatural flowers that can alter reality. Using a camera, players solve puzzles by turning objects into ghosts, freezing them in place, and rewinding them in time, allowing them to both navigate and manipulate the environment in new and interesting ways.
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Eye of the Erime takes inspiration from games like Portal and Outer Wilds, and our team sought to build an experience that would challenge players with its puzzles while drawing them into a unique setting woven around them. As a designer, my job was to give the team's level designers, artists, and narrative designers everything they would need to build an experience that could achieve our goals.
My most significant contribution to this project was the concept and design of the game's central Entanglement mechanic. I designed all three of the game's entanglement types, as well as a suite of puzzle elements that would create interesting interactions with and between those entanglement types. Additionally, I was responsible for defining the general structure of the game and implementing the initial prototypes and final implementations of many of the game's core elements, in particular Echo Entanglement.