Amnesia: The Dark Descent Game Mechanic Research

Game Mechanics:

·         No Weaponry Accessible: Can't actually fight in the game. No Projectile or Melee Weapons are accessible in the game as  the objective isn't to kill enemies, more to survive and run from them.

·         Interactive Environment: Most of the components in the game's environment are interactive in some way or another. Such as cupboards, wardrobes, jugs, barrels and containers to find objects needed to play the game.

·         Use of Light: The games uses light to scare a player in the game. Light is the only way you see in the game as most of the time, its dark in the environment. You either gain this from the occasional window, a lantern you can hold or by firing up the torches on most of the walls. But to light them up you have to search the environment for flints. If you also stay in the dark for too long, the character gets scared and anxious, which makes the screen start spinning.

·         Emotion and Proximity:  Emotion is highly used in the game as your meant to feel fear. Fear is created multiple ways in the mechanics. Light as mentioned is used as if you stay in the dark for too long, it can scare the character which makes the screen start to blur and rotate. The blurring and rotating is also caused when the player is too close to an enemy or you are looking at one for too long which makes the game suspense as you want o know when the enemy leaves the proximity you're in but can't as your meant to get in cover and hide.

·         Gathering Information for puzzles: With the interactive environment element being used here, the player must search for different components to open up new pathways, find other components, find relevant information on the story a hand or how to deter enemies. The puzzles are interesting but challenging, intriguing the player's mystery and development into the game.

How these affect the game-play.

Combining all these game mechanics together, it creates a suspense filled horror/thriller game as the player as has use strategy, survival and exploration together to complete the game. Using light and proximity to change what the player is viewing on screen which makes the player feel the emotion of threat and danger. While having to survive and keep the character's emotions intact, you have to navigate and search around the environment looking into a variety of objects to maintain your head and solve puzzles which are all brought together to discover what the game's story is about. Then to sum  it up, not having any source of weaponry to fight back with also makes the game incredibly scary as you just feel hopeless in the way of survival.