About the Game
Project: Noir is a detective, mystery playable teaser for Studio Stamp's upcoming game. Project: Noir puts the you in the role of Jack, a private investigator, who is tasked with finding a wallet that has ties to the underground drug ring conspiracy in Philadelphia.
Project: Noir was developed in four months, where I focused on the puzzle and narrative design.
The project was later collaborated with the game's UI/UX designer, Diksha Nair, to create a better-looking, more intuitive game. If you wish to see the final build of the demo, click here!
Narrative Design
The main goal for Project: Noir's narrative design was to strike a balance between implicit and explicit storytelling. To achieve this, Project: Noir's story is presented through text, subtext, as well as imagery that is scattered across different applications.
For example, the wallpaper on Jack's phone is of a woman. When players click on the texting app, they see a chat log with "Rose Delacroix" with her profile picture being that of the wallpaper. Using deductive reasoning, players reach the conclusion that Rose is someone that Jack cares for deeply.
Puzzle Design
The goal for the puzzles in Project: Noir was to strike a balance between deductive and investigation style, challenging both player's logical thinking as well as ability to filter out important details. This was achieved by creating puzzles that consist of the player having to navigate through different webpages and finding specific text that will aid in reaching their end goal.