Eternal Wreckening
I designed a four-versus-one mobile horror concept with gyroscope controls, shake-to-escape interactions, and haptic feedback.
ToolsFigma · InDesign · Photoshop
The four strongest screens
Jump to 03, the match
Jump to 02, mechanics
Jump to 04, the guides
Jump to 04, the guides
Mobile games only use your thumbs.
Horror runs on presence, the sense that the threat is sharing the room.
Color tells you what a label would have, faster.
Painterly horror-realism.
Every environment and character drawn with the same brush.
Each role gets its own guide.
Both roles, prototyped.
A Figma prototype and a storyboard for the Guardians and the Entity.
What I'd build next.
- Physical mechanics need physical playtesting.
- The Entity is harder to design than the Guardian.
Role, process and impact
Role, process, impact and the brief
- Role
- I designed the game concept, controls, interface, characters, and storyboarded prototype.
- Process
- I mapped gyroscope movement, shaking, tapping, and vibration to movement and escape actions. I designed separate onboarding for the survivors and monster.
- Impact
- I produced a Figma interface prototype and storyboard covering both player roles, match objectives, and physical controls.
- The design brief
- Immersivity and horror, on a phone: a multiplayer mobile horror game where the two collide.
- Role · timeline
- Solo Designer · 8 weeks · 2024
- Methods
- Game Design · Storyboarding · Interaction Design
- Tags
01Problem
Mobile games only use your thumbs.
- Standard mobile controls hand you two thumbs: left thumb moves, right thumb aims.
- Horror runs on presence, the sense that the threat is sharing the room.
- Keep the player's body outside the experience and you can't manufacture dread.
Read more
Standard mobile controls hand you two thumbs: left thumb moves, right thumb aims. Your torso, your hands, the instinct to flinch all wait outside the screen. For most genres that tradeoff works fine.
Horror is the exception. It runs on presence, on the sense that you're in the space and the threat is sharing the room. Keep the player's body outside the experience and you can still build atmosphere, but you can't manufacture dread. The screen stays a window when it needs to be a portal.
“Horror falls apart at arm's length. The threat has to feel like it's in the room, which means putting the player's body in the game, not just on the screen.”
Design intent, Eternal Wreckening
Design goals
01
Body as controller.
Gyroscope, shake, tap, and vibration replace passive thumb controls with full physical engagement.
02
Horror through presence.
The player's body inside the experience amplifies tension that visuals alone can't create.
03
Interface that moves with you.
Controls and feedback respond to physical input, not just touch coordinates.
04
New mechanics, no friction.
Three unfamiliar input methods taught through play, not instruction screens.
02Mechanics
Three layers of physical play.
- Large: turn and tilt the phone to look around; the joystick still moves you.
- Medium: when the Entity grabs you, shake the phone to break free; a failed shake eliminates you.
- Small: tap with both thumbs to sprint; when the energy bar drains, the phone vibrates.
Read more
I built the controls around a hierarchy of physical engagement, large to small. Each layer pulls in the body at a different scale: full-body orientation, then muscle fatigue, then haptic pulse in the fingertips.
- Large: Gyroscope. Instead of the right thumb sweeping the camera (the mobile default), you turn and tilt the device to orient within the world. The joystick on the lower left handles movement; the body handles perspective. You lean around corners and face threats head-on, so the horror environment turns into a place you inhabit rather than watch.
- Medium: Shake to escape. When the Entity grabs you, you shake the phone to break free instead of tapping a button. The motion mirrors what you'd do if something actually grabbed you, which makes the panic land in your hands. It carries a cost: a failed shake eliminates you on the spot, so you're forced into a real decision under pressure.
- Small: Tap to run, vibrate to stop. Sprinting means both thumbs tapping the screen as fast as you can. As the energy bar drains, the phone vibrates: your character is winded, and by then so are your fingers. When the bar refills you can run again. You feel the cost of the resource instead of just watching the bar slide down.
Large to small
Full-body orientation, then muscle fatigue, then a haptic pulse in the fingertips.
- 01 LARGE
Large: Gyroscope. Full-body orientation replaces the right thumb. Players turn, tilt, and lean their way through the horror environment.
- 02 MEDIUM
Medium: Shake to escape. Caught by the Entity, you shake to break free, and a failed attempt eliminates you. Physical mimicry meets risk-vs-reward.
- 03 SMALL
Small: Tap to run, vibrate to stop. The energy bar and the player's fingers exhaust together. Haptic feedback closes the loop between body and screen.
03The match
Four Guardians against one Entity.
- A 4v1 asymmetric game inspired by Dead by Daylight, rethought for a phone where the controller is your whole body.
- Four Guardians find and destroy five Abyssal Amulets and throw the gems into the portal to close it.
- The Entity starts 30 seconds later and gains a new ability every three minutes; the clock works for the monster.
Read more
Eternal Wreckening is a 4v1 asymmetric multiplayer game inspired by Dead by Daylight, the survival horror game that defined the predator-versus-survivors model. Bringing that to mobile meant rethinking how the structure feels when the controller is your whole body. Four Guardians have to find and destroy five Abyssal Amulets scattered across the map, release the gem fragment from each, and throw them into the portal to close it and eliminate the Entity. One player controls the Entity and tries to knock down all four Guardians and throw them into the portal before it closes.
The asymmetry is structural. Guardians, represented by Harper Stone, start with full visibility but face an unknown map and limited tactical tools. The Entity, played as Sorcha Nightshade, starts 30 seconds later with reduced visibility but gains a new ability every three minutes: speed multipliers, enhanced detection, extended capture range. The longer the match runs, the more dangerous Sorcha becomes. The clock works for the monster.
Map wayfinding is intentionally constrained. The fog-of-war map only shows areas the Guardian has physically walked. There's no overhead view to fall back on; you earn the map by moving, which pits exploration against self-preservation. You can hide or you can scout, not both at once.
Interactive objects glow when your character gets close, even through walls. In an otherwise dim, disorienting environment, those bright outlines are the one signal you can trust, and they pull you toward the light.
Fig. 04: Character select: Guardian and Entity archetypes carry distinct visual languages and ability sets
- Harper Stone, Guardian. Adventurous thrill-seeker from a family of renowned explorers, with the ability to perceive the aura of possessed objects within a five-meter radius. Before entering a match, Guardians choose their gadget loadout, building a pre-match strategy around the tools they bring in.
- Sorcha Nightshade, Entity. Exiled wielder of forest magic, armed with a ceremonial dagger and dark arcane force. A solo predator growing stronger every three minutes, she hunts all four Guardians and needs to eliminate them before the portal closes.
4v1Asymmetric team structure. Four Guardians work to close the portal; one Entity works to stop them. Each side has distinct abilities, visibility ranges, and win conditions.
5Abyssal Amulets scattered across the map. Guardians must find all five, break each to release a gem fragment, and throw every gem into the portal before the Entity eliminates them.
30sHead start for the Guardians. The Entity spawns 30 seconds after they begin, leaving a short window to orient before the hunt opens. The Entity starts weaker, with reduced visibility, then keeps gaining power.
3 minPower escalation interval. Every three minutes, the Entity gains a new ability: speed multipliers, enhanced detection, extended capture range. Drag the match out and the monster wins.
04Onboarding
Each role gets its own guide.
- Three unfamiliar inputs need explaining before the first match.
- Guardians and the Entity each get a guide that covers only their own controls.
- Splitting the paths protects the asymmetric mystery: you don't see the other side's mechanics until you've committed to a role.
Read more
Role-split onboarding. Three unfamiliar input methods need explaining before the first match. Instead of one tutorial screen, the game gives separate Guardian and Entity guides, each covering only the controls for that role. A Guardian doesn't need to learn how Sorcha moves, and the Entity guide gets to lean into the predator fantasy from the first screen. Splitting the paths keeps each side focused and protects the asymmetric mystery: you don't see the other side's mechanics until you've committed to a role.
Fig. 08: Role-split guides: Guardian and Entity each get their own learning path, preserving asymmetric mystery
The Guardian's path, in order
From the main menu to closing the portal.
- 01 MAIN MENU
Main menu. Start, or open the Guide.
- 02 SMASH
Guardian Guide, step 2. Smash objects and collect the gem. Gadgets can be equipped before each match to improve survival odds.
- 03 THE PORTAL
Guardian Guide, step 3. Put the gems in the portal to close it: smash each Abyssal Amulet to release its gem fragment, then insert all five into the portal before the Entity eliminates the team.
05Gadgets
Color tells you what a label would have, faster.
- Before each match, Guardians pick three tactical items that shape how they play.
- Stun: a blinding burst for four seconds once two gems are placed. Amplify: 30 seconds of heightened hearing that surfaces the Entity within 100 meters. Mask: detection range cut by 10 percent.
- Gadgets live in a backpack, and the equip icon takes the color of the selected gadget.
Read more
Gadget selection. Before each match, Guardians pick from three tactical items that shape how they play. Stun fires a blinding burst for four seconds, available once two gems are placed. Amplify sharpens hearing for 30 seconds and surfaces the Entity within 100 meters. Mask cuts detection range by 10 percent for a stealthier run. Each screen leans on bold color coding so you can size up and compare options at a glance while the pre-match clock runs.
Inventory and backpack UI. Collected gadgets live in a backpack, a real-world object players already understand. The equip icon takes on the color of the selected gadget, so item and action stay visually linked. In a dim, high-stress moment, that color tells you what a label would have, faster.
Color as wayfinding. Bright gadgets pop against the brown palette and grab the eye right away. The equip icon matches the selected gadget's color, tying item to action. When the screen is dim and the pressure is on, that color does what a label can't do fast enough.
Fig. 06: Gadget selection: three tactical items, each color-coded and function-distinct. Fig. 07: Inventory and gadget UI: familiar metaphor, color-coded affordances
06Visual
The environment sets the mood and the interface stays readable.
- The environment carries mood, the interface carries function, and color stitches them together.
- I hand-drew every environment and character with the same brush, in a painterly horror-realism style.
- Every interactive icon shares a circular base: round means you can touch it.
Read more
The visual language had to carry atmosphere and stay legible at the same time. Horror aesthetics lean on obscurity; game UI demands that you read it instantly. I split the registers to settle the conflict: the environment carries mood, the interface carries function, and color stitches them together.
Art direction: painterly horror-realism. I hand-drew every environment and character with the same brush, so the repeated stroke holds the look together. The style stays stylized rather than literal, because stylized forms unsettle in a way photorealism rarely manages. I wanted dread to creep in before the first interaction, a world that looks familiar but reads slightly wrong.
Dim lighting, decaying geometry, and a brown-dominant palette ground the game in a dystopian world that's already rotting. The low contrast works against you: spotting a threat takes real attention. Whatever brightness the palette does carry has one job, which is to mark what matters.
Icon system. Every interactive icon shares a circular base, and the repetition teaches one rule: round means you can touch it. Arrows signal direction. A drawn circle stands in for an "exit" text label, so the control stays in harmony with the illustrated art and the interface reads as authored, not pulled from a kit.
Fig. 05: Icon system: circular shapes, universal symbols, consistent shape language throughout
07Reflection
What I'd build next.
The full story, in order, lives in the deck.
View presentation PDF ↗Physical mechanics need physical playtesting.
I reasoned the gyroscope and shake mechanics through on paper but never stress-tested them in live play. A shake under threat feels nothing like a shake while you're calm. The depletion rate of the energy bar, the shake threshold to escape, the vibration pattern at exhaustion: each one needs hands-on tuning that static prototyping can't fake, because the body itself is the test environment.
Onboarding new controls without breaking the horror.
Teaching three unfamiliar inputs (gyroscope, shake, tap-to-run) inside a horror context is a tension I didn't fully crack. A standard tutorial screen punctures the atmosphere. I think the answer is contextual first use: a low-stakes scripted encounter that teaches each mechanic through play rather than instruction text. That's the version I'd build next.
The Entity is harder to design than the Guardian.
Most of my visual and interaction work sat with the Guardian's view. The Entity's UI deserves its own pass: a different field of view, different HUD priorities, a different emotional register. Whoever controls the monster should feel like the most dangerous thing in the room, and getting there takes a design language I haven't built yet.