Survival Horror game idea in the drawing board... What do you think?

I'm beginning to learn Unity so I can get started on working on this survival horror game I've been
brewing in my noggin for a long time and I want to really share it out and see what people think.

Introduction

Spoiler

• Narrative is split between two stories...
  • The Present Day, in which you, the player, wake up in an abandoned panopticon prison complex with no memory of your identity or how you came here.
    • You are mysteriously fitted into an overall suit with a camera-mounted helmet adding to the mystery behind your appearance and identity.
    • This story is presented entirely in first-person, viewed through the camera in a deliberately low-resolution, bad quality presentation.
    • Your goal is to find a way to escape the Complex while discovering video tapes that uncover its dark past and, possibly, your own.
  • A non-chronological story of the Complex's past when it was controlled by a twisted bible-based cult, as told through the perspectives of several characters
    • Viewed through the many security cameras installed across the Complex, serving as fixed camera angles akin to horror games of old.
    • Each character has his/her own goals which may entwine or conflict with each other. Their fates are determined by choices the player makes during this story.

Presentation

Spoiler

• As the game is viewed entirely through cameras (the players visor and the Complex's security cameras), everything takes on a low-resolution quality presentation with a complete lack of anti-aliasing, a noticeably low frame rate and VHS-like static and screen tearing.
  • This was inspired from what I found about old school horror games of the PS1 era, notably Resident Evil and Silent Hill, is that they use their hardware limitations to their advantage by instilling anxiety in the player from the lack of crisp visual details. They fill in the gaps with their imagination.
• The player's story is viewed entirely in first person whereas the flashback sections use third person fixed camera angles.
• There is no HUD.
  • Stamina (used for running and melee attacks) is represented by the players breathing and the head bobbing growing progressively heavier. The louder and heavier his/her breaths, the more exhausted he/she is.
  • Health is represented by blood and wounds on the player characters body.
  • When the player character is killed by tangible enemies, the camera lens crack, followed by the screen being taken over by loud TV static - Game over!
  • No ammunition counter!
  • No aiming reticle for guns either! When aiming at an enemy, the steadying of your aim is represented by the player gradually bringing the gun closer to the middle of his/her sight and the sights more in line with the target (but close enough for a perfect iron sight view).

Gameplay: Item Management and Interaction

Spoiler

• The player interacts with the environment with two spare hands - can grab and hold virtually anything
• Use hands for physical tasks like throwing switches, opening doors, climbing ladders and ledges, etc.
  • Whenever your hands touch anything, either side of the controller (representing the left and right hands) will vibrate.
• Most small items are stored in a utility belt, whereas larger and heavier items can be only be held by hand and may need to be left behind at certain points
  • Most items can be dropped and thrown (depending on mass and weight)
• Small items can be dual-wielded (i.e. flashlight/gun, gun/knife, gun/spare magazine)
• Reloading firearms is performed manually by unloading the old mag then taking a new mag in your spare hand and combining the held items (gun and magazine) together
• Some heavy items requiring the use of two hands can be held with one hand but will be unusable in that state
• Stored items add up weight that slow down the player (i.e. running and melee attacks)

Gameplay: Melee Combat

Spoiler

• Melee attacks are performed with either quick light attacks that are relatively fast, deal low damage and recover quickly; or heavy charged attacks that deal significantly more damage, are more likely to stun enemies but take longer to recover from.
  • Each weapon has its own attack speed, damage output and recover time between strikes.
  • Emphasis on timing your attacks as opposed to dealing damage with multi-hit combos.
  • Attacks can be used to parry enemy attacks. No blocking per se.
• Any light one-handed weapons can be held with both hands for a bonus in attack and recovery speed and damage
• Most melee attacks will wear out and break apart from excessive use
• Melee attacks expend stamina which is also needed for running.

Gameplay: Firearm Combat

Spoiler

• There is no manual aiming with firearms.
  • When readying a weapon, you lock on to the closest enemy and gradually steady your aim.
  • The speed of which is influenced by the distance between you and your target and the level of illumination it is in - the closer the monster is and the more visible it is, the quicker you can zero in for a perfect shot!
• Gunshots will alert nearby enemies
• Similarly to melee weapons, holding one-handed guns (i.e. pistols) will benefit aiming accuracy.
• Thankfully, firearms don't break down. You just have to worry about conserving ammo.

Gameplay: Stealth

Spoiler

• You can crouch and go prone, particularly to access enclosed areas like air vents or under a bed.
  • Even when crouch-walking, enemies can still hear your footsteps up close depending on how slow you move so the closer you get, the slower you need to creep up to make that stealth kill count - just like in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (and hope they don't turn around before you do so).
• You can throw items to serve as a distraction
• You can access security cameras across the Complex to survey enemy patrols
• As you expend stamina, your players exhausted breaths can be heard by monsters so you can hold your breath to keep yourself quiet while sacrificing stamina recovery speed.
  
• Holding your breath for too long will cause your movements to sway uncontrollably and you will begin to hear your own heartbeats as the sounds of everything else drowns out.
  • Gradually release the "Hold Breath" button to slowly regain your breath, otherwise you let out a huge and loud gasp that will give away your position.

Gameplay: Flashback Segments

Spoiler

• When you bring a videotape to the security room, you will take on the role of any of a range of characters in segments taking place in the Complex's past(?) as viewed through security cameras serving as the fixed camera angles
• Gameplay is more akin to an interactive point and click adventure in which you speak to NPC's, select dialogue choices, solve puzzles and sneak past enemies.

Monsters and NPC's

Spoiler

• You don't encounter any hostiles for the first hour of the game, although you begin to catch glimpses of ghosts roaming the Complex but they don't notice you or pose any threat for the time being.
  • Once you get used to them about an hour into the game, they begin to notice you and will patrol the Complex looking for you.
  • Ghosts cannot be killed and will coordinate as a team to flank you, block off escape routes and search rooms for you.
  • They will detect you by sight as well as sound. They will even notice any light sources and investigate them, so keep your flashlight off!
  • Ghosts are completely invisible in the light, so it pays to turn it off in order to see them.
  • Ghosts don't inflict permanent wounds but rather gradually "kill" you by filling your screen with static the closer they get to you.

• Eventually you will come across NPC's that each express (rather disturbed) views of the world and events transpiring within it. Some are somewhat friendly, others either more neutral or outright hostile but you don't know whether you can trust even those apparently friendly to your cause.
  • You can injure and kill any NPC you come across and they may each retaliate in their own way.
  • Hostile NPC's will utilize melee weapons and firearms and can use the same methods of hunting you down as the ghosts will.

• You will also occasionally encounter other paranormal entities such as poltergeists that manipulate objects and throw them at you.
• And finally, grotesque demonic entities that are completely censored with a mosaic filter in your camera visor and are difficult to defeat in combat so only fight them as a last resort. They can only be incapacitated for a limited time and will get back up eventually.

I've always wanted to create my own survival horror game. I haven't played all the classics but the ones I did play include System Shock 2, Afraid of Monsters: Directors Cut, Cry of Fear and these hidden gems Echo Night: Beyond (PS2) and Hellnight (PS1).

While I've only given away the surface of what the story is about, how I envision it is that it starts out as a deceptively straight forward plot of regaining your memory and somehow finding it connected with a mysterious cult and discovering which of the characters YOU are. But I plan to throw in some curve balls that gradually blur the boundaries between the present and past storylines, causing you to question how much of the story is actually set in the present day, how much of it is either real, metaphorical or a figment of the players fracturing psyche.

As for the cult, while most video games have you an outsider to an evil cult that is trying to kill you, I wanted to go into unfamiliar territory by having you play as members within the cult and experience their brainwashing methods and spiritual abuse firsthand.

Some of the characters you play as, depending on your choices, may try to resist the cults control and plan a way to escape. However, one glaring problem I am aware of is: How are you going to try and escape this Orwellian-style cult when you're being watched by cameras all the time?!

Yeah, I could just have them be playable from a first person perspective but I am adamant in having it all presented in through fixed camera angles (again the security cameras) which are being viewed as recorded footage by the player, whose eye- ahem! Camera you are looking through. You are searching through all these video archives, witnessing the struggles of other people you may or may not be directly connected to and switching to view through their eyes would break that - if you understand what I mean.

Plus, there would be areas that the characters enter that aren't covered by cameras, leaving you to investigate them firsthand.

So does anyone here think this idea's got legs? Any solutions to the problem I just described?

Thanks.

 

I haven't read the entire thing, will look through later.

Off the top of my head, the basic premise reminds me of Trespasser, that old PC game set in Jurassic Park. It was ahead of its time. Everything was done intuitively. You controlled the players hands and did everything from there.

It is one of my favorite core mechanics, but I think the reason you don't see it done more is how much work it must take to account for so much player control and interaction with the environment.

About the story premise -- It's overdone. Waking up in a horrible situation with amnesia, how many times have we heard that one? And who can relate?

Doesn't mean plenty of people won't like it. But, for originalities sake, I'd like a story that is more realistic. At least realistic enough that I can get somewhat involved in it.

 

I like the bit of the story you've shared and the mystery involved in the game, rather than being a straight shooter. The view through cameras I think is a nice touch.

I do have a few criticisms though.

"Health is represented by blood and wounds on the player characters body." - This makes zero sense due to you already stating while you're not viewing security camera footage you are entirely first person. First person games generally show little of the player's own body. If you're going to have the player look down at his/her own body to check for damage, that just seems silly. It unnecessarily creates a break in the gameplay. Most games display health on the screen because it is a substitute for actually feeling pain. A person doesn't need to look at their own body to know they have been injured. Viewing your body to check for damage would make a lot more sense if this were a 3rd person game.

I also don't like your ideas regarding hand management, due to the limitations of game controllers. This seems like it will be a cumbersome and over complicated game mechanic that the player will generally see as an unnecessary hassle that interrupts the flow of the game rather than adding more realism.

Unkillable enemies, especially when the player is equipped with weapons, are generally frustrating and result in a negative play experience. Players will die repeatedly trying to kill them rather than immediately understand they are unkillable (thinking obviously I should be able to figure out how to kill them, otherwise why even give me weapons?).

Flashback segments and cut scenes in general can be helpful for building your story, but players generally see them as an interruption to the game rather than part of it, and will seek to skip them. If you don't allow them to be skipped, that pisses some people off. If you do allow them to be skipped, make sure that a player can complete your game without having watched the cut scenes.

Why does it take longer to get your sight picture with your firearm when the monster is further away? Why can't I know how many rounds are left in the magazine? Maybe I'm over thinking this coming from a real firearms background and you aren't going for as much realism as I first thought.

Overall I think you have a really good idea and I hope you run with it.

 

You realise how much work this is right? You are setting yourself up for a multi year project at best.

 

Thank you very much for your feedback everyone.

To tell you the truth, I was actually aware of how cliched this premise is but I thought of going with it anyway but toy around with it by having the player encounter bizarre phenomena that would, in a nutshell, cause him to question the reality of the present day story and keeping away some of the information in order to leave players to form their own interpretation of whats going on.

Please forgive me but, I mean to ask this as a genuine question and not a rhetorical one, how would this break the gameplay? I am trying to figure out an immersive way to check your health without relying on HUD elements. Sure you are looking through a camera but it's not a futuristic hi-tech one that measures your vitals and represents them as a health bar. Blood on the screen wouldn't make much sense either and it would annoy players by how much it would obscure their vision.

Maybe I am missing something myself. But a third of the way into the game, you would encounter killable enemies in the form of human NPC's. I believe I did mention that monsters can still be fought and incapacitated, that is killed temporarily akin to the zombies of Resident Evil, the Shibito of Forbidden Siren and even the Baker Family of Resident Evil 7.

As for combat difficulty, while I admit this is no guarantee of quality, I am aware that it is important to make combat fair as well as tense and scary. Enemies would need to have "wind up" animations leading up to attacks, warning players to make a quick dodge. When it comes to melee combat, you need to time your attacks to hit your enemies before they can get too close to you, taking the length off your weapon in account. Like I said, combat is best used as a last resort if sneaking or running past isn't possible.

I can see what you mean and would easily see myself in that position, considering the obvious divergence of gameplay styles in both present and past segments.

This is my idea of hearkening back to classic horror games, particularly Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren, in which not only precision aiming isn't possible but distance and lighting plays a vital role in affecting your firing accuracy while locking onto monsters. Do I risk taking a shot and missing on this monster that is so far away or do I wait for him to close in, guaranteeing I'll hit it on mark but risk letting it rip my face off?!
This is also the kind of tension I hope to achieve with firearm combat. Your character isn't a trained marksman but an everyday man and giving the player more control by adding manual gun aiming lessens the tension in horror games.

 

I can't answer for Joe-Censored, but I agree that it would interrupt gameplay. Maybe looking at your body instead of having a health bar makes more sense from the standpoint of the technological restrictions of the camera the character uses, but it makes no sense from a human perspective.

As Joe-Censored said, people don't really need to look at their body to tell that they're hurt, they just feel it. So making the player look at their body (which, in first person, means they need to look away from everything else around them, effectively removing them from the situation) is pretty unintuitive and inefficient.

Basically, introducing an extra step that causes the player to focus on something entirely separate from the rest of the gameplay to accomplish something (i.e. understanding their health) that, in real life, would be done without any change in focus -- that's what causes a break in the gameplay. A health bar is an easy solution because it is virtually immediate, even if it's not as immediate as real life. Personally, I think you could work with showing wounds (or some visual effect) on the screen without letting it get too in the way or annoying. It's something I would experiment with at least.

On a similar note, if you're avoiding UI that wouldn't be on the character in their context, how are you representing the utility belt? How would the player interact with it? Sorry if I missed that in the original post.


Even if there are some cliches, I'm interested in the story, especially since I'm a huge mystery fan. I think the blurring of past and present is especially interesting, and done well could be a major strength in the narrative.

 

About the health and HUD, again I am reminded of Trespasser. In that game, you had to look down and there was a tattoo heart on the players chest that became more filled as they took damage.

That game did it, but I think I agree with the others that it would be somewhat tedious. But I think the entire argument is kind of moot, anyway, because, IMHO, a survival horror game with enemies that can't kill you outright in one or two hits isn't going to be very scary. Not saying to do away with health entirely, as having a flashing 1 for health can be pretty tension inducing, but maybe something a little less cumbersome like a darkening/reddening of the corners of the screen could do the trick?

That way, the player can feel the tension of "Oh crap, I'm hurt, I really can't afford to take any chances right now", but its a little more intuitive and realistic than either observing some number, bar, or having to look down at yourself in the middle of action to remind yourself how vulnerable to you are.

 

I'm not making a suggestion on how to handle it, I'm just saying frequently having to look down at your own body to keep updated on your health status by looking for injuries seems like an interruption to the gameplay.

When I was criticizing unkillable enemies I was mostly referring to your ghosts. Maybe I misunderstood, but it sounded like your hero has weapons but the only choice against ghosts was to be sneaky and/or fast. In that situation players will get frustrated trying to kill them instead of having developer knowledge about what you can/cannot do. Avoiding unkillable enemies is more intuitive when the player has no weapons.

Ahh ok, I thought you were saying the character would literally raise and get sight picture slower if the monster were further away. Accuracy should obviously be more difficult at distance.

Again overall I like what you're doing. Sounds like a fun game.

 

Agree completely!

 

I'm also not a huge fan of no UI schemes.

I get the logic. In real life you have no UI, so to make the game realistic, we will have no UI.

Except in real life we have a plethora of other senses to give us feedback. When I'm running down an Orc, I know pretty much exactly how much longer I can keep running before I give out.

On the other hand I don't have a problem with unkillable monsters, especially if the game makes it clear the enimies are unkillable. As in you shoot one once and it turns around and rips your head off a second later.

 

What are you doing this weekend? Can I come?

 

Hitting nerds with sticks. Preferably frost guard (snow elves) or lions (hedge knights). Apparently the northern barbarians have declared war on us, so we might have to kill a few of them too. To my knowledge we are the largest weekly battle game in the world*, so there is no shortage of people to fight.

You local to Melbourne? We play every Friday night. We have plenty of people that can kit you out with some gear.

Links: SwordCraft, Siconze

There are also smaller SwordCraft chapters across Australia. And there are other LARP groups globally. If there isn't one near you, we have helped other people to set up their own based on our rules.

* There are bigger LARP events, but none that run on a weekly basis. I'm keen to be corrected if I've missed one, we are always looking to connect to and borrow from the experience of other LARP groups.

 

I'm on the other side of the planet. That does sound awesome though.

"Hitting nerds with sticks." Hahaha

 

I can't help but assume that "northern barbarians" is a euphemism for Canberrans

 

Ya even games that do a pretty good job of that, there are this tiny group who like it, and then everyone else is using third party addons that add back in the ui elements most people actually want.

The flaw in those designs is kind of what you alluded to. In real life we know what our general 'health' is without having to stop and think about it, I know when I'm tired. So the goal should be UI's that convey essential things in the way I can absorb it the easiest. Which is generally some very obvious ui component that is easy to see.

 

Lol. That would be funny.

Spoiler: Nerd Politics

In the game world there is a warband called Blades of the North. They are a somewhat Viking themed. They are a relatively old warband. Their traditional domain is the icy northern wates of Althea.

The warband I represent is known as the Siconze Dominion. We are an Italian renaissance group. Which makes us much more enlightened and cultured then the North, by our definition. And in the grand tradition of enlightened empires we have been dligently spreadig our civilising influence through the southern part of the continent. Pretty much the entire southern half of the continent has either allied with us, or been removed as an affront to civilisation.

For reasons unknown to us the North don't like us. They have formed an alliance with the various other northern fractions and declared war on the entire southern continent.

Which brings us to today where we must mercilessly crush them. No one gets to declare war on us and live to tell the tale.

 

Oh yes, I forgot.
You would look down your body to see the items physically attached to your belt, look at any of the individual items and pick them up from there.

Speaking of which, I also forgot to explain the control scheme.
As I may alluded, this game would be designed with consoles in mind and I will be referring
to the PS4 button scheme.

• Left Stick:
  • Up/Down: Walk Forward/Step Backwards
  • Left/Down: Turn Left/Right
  • L3: Crouch/Prone (Hold)

• Right Stick: Look
  • R3: 180 degree turn

• X: Run (tap repeatedly)
• Running speed is determined by how fast you tap the button
• Square: Combat Stance (Hold)
• Circle: Hold Breath
  • Will automatically release breath momentarily
    
    • Hold R2 + L2 to hold breath indefinitely (if unarmed)
    • Slowly release R2 + L2 to gradually release breath

    ​

​

• Triangle: Holster both equipped items/holster left/right-hand items (hold + R2/L2)

• R2: Grab with Right Hand
  • In Combat Stance:
    • Shove (+R2, if unarmed)
      
    • Fire gun (if equipped with gun)
    • Light attack (Tap, if equipped with melee weapon)
    • Heavy attack (Hold, if equipped with melee weapon)
• R1: Drop right-hand item (if equipped)/unload right-held gun(in Combat Stance).

• L2: Grab with Left Hand
  • In Combat Stance:
    • Shove (+L2, if unarmed)
      
    • Fire gun (if equipped with gun)
    • Light attack (Tap, if equipped with melee weapon)
    • Heavy attack (Hold, if equipped with melee weapon)
• L1: Drop left-hand item (if equipped)/unload left-held gun(in Combat Stance).

Any questions? Please ask.

 

(Please note that this is all just an opinion and I'm only trying to help you improve the concept. It's not intended as an attack on you or the concept)



I was writing up some general feedback when something bugged me. I've been thinking about it for a while now and I believe there is a big problem in the concept you've described thus far: it is focused on a genre, instead of on a potential experience.



Allow me to elaborate. In your initial post, you outline a lot of gameplay systems (picking up items, throwing items, health and damage, stamina, enemy AI, combining items, combat, shooting, picking up multiple smaller items) but it is unclear how these systems would interact with eachother to allow interesting play experiences to emerge. How do the systems contribute to the experience you're trying to set up for the player? This relationship between the gameplay rules and the potential experience is unclear.



The reason it is unclear, is because there does not seem to be a set experience goal besides "survival horror". This makes sense because you literally said "I've always wanted to create my own survival horror game." So (and I'm making massive assumptions here, please take no offense) you probably thought about the gameplay systems commonly found in survival horror games and copied them with your own twist. This can turn out really well, but it is risky because you do not know what made those systems tick in the first place. Maybe a system you really liked only worked because it had a certain type of relationship to another system you didn't like as much and thus, didn't copy. Or maybe a system only really shined because of how it added meaning to the narrative.



So how can you go about solving this problem? First, start with setting an experience goal. What would you like the player to experience when playing the game? (and here you stumble on the question: who is your player) This method of designing with a focus on the player and the experience has been coined the playcentric approach by Tracy Fullerton in her book "Game Design Workshop". (but it's a recurring theme throughout game design literature*) It's possible (maybe even likely) that you already have decided on this, but just haven't made it explicit. By making it explicit by writing it down for example, you have a clearer vision of what you would like your game to achieve.



A technique I find useful to help you find the experience goal you want to pursue, is to create game scenarios. This can be a short description like:

"The player has just watched a video of someone getting overwhelmed by ghosts in a room he has to go through next. On his guard, he presses the A button to open the door. The tattered door swings inward with a creak. In the center of the room a pale translucent shape is floating. A ghost! It seems distracted and hasn't noticed the player. The player starts to back away just as behind him, a strange, high-pitched tone is audible. Alarmed, the player spins around, but nothing can be seen. When turning back, he suddenly finds that the ghost has been alerted by the sound and has started moving towards the player! Frantically the player tries to find a hiding place so the ghost won't see him. He pushes away a rolling table so he can cover behind it, making sure he does so slowly to not alert the ghost of his presence. Willing the table to move faster without making a sound, the player finally manages to create his own hiding spot. Just in time, as as soon as the player is crouching behind the table, the ghost is floating only inches next to him, seemingly imitating the strange high-pitched noise. Is it communicating in a way?"



The above scenario has some experiental elements written in to it that you can then try to achieve. (in this example, unease and uncertainty of what is to come, followed by bursts of frantic activity, intertwined with a sense of exploring the world) (not saying you should try to achieve those effects, it's just an example)



An alternative is to write up a short sentence (or tweet if you like) of what the main elements of the game are. "Black Noise's game is a game where the player is sneaking around a former cult-gone-wrong's headquarters, trying to find out what his dark role in the cult is."

Obviously this tweet is lacking, putting emphasis mostly on the story and only highlighting sneaking as an important gameplay system. Because the sentence is so short, you are forced to think about what the most important elements of your game are (note that this sentence is slightly different from a business 'elevator pitch' you would give, as there you have to put more emphasis on what makes your game sell)

An example of such a tweet from a game I worked on (link to that game)

"Minotaur’s Maze is a 4-player treasurehunter race in which players must cooperate and compete to attain the biggest pile of riches, all the while avoiding a deadly minotaur."

Here you see two big parts of the experience: cooperation and competition between players. The word "race" implies time pressure. Also, the game goal is mentioned, before finishing off with both a small amount of narrative (a minotaur, which was the theme for this game) and the gameplay notion this is a threat to the players.

So, this tweet tells you you are under pressure to perform, with a big threat looming over you, and you have multiple players you have to both cooperate and compete with, making it maybe a little ambiguous which of the two things to do at a given time.



To learn what kind of experiences you might want to pursue, you can look at what kind of experiences you have when playing a horror game. What is typical of good horror games in terms of what you feel and think while playing?



When you have an experience goal, you have a tool you can use to test all the mechanics, ideas and gameplay systems you have at this moment. You decide on an experience goal, and from there on out, you can, when in doubt about ideas or mechanics, ask yourself: does this help players experience what I want them to experience. If no, throw it out, if yes, keep it, if you don't know, test it so you do know.



This experience goal can change once you've gained more insight in what is important to your (intended) player.



Then, when you have the gameplay systems you think contribute to this goal, you can ask how you would map them to a controller. That is not a question for now, however.



I suppose I'm trying to warn you about overdesigning up front, because when you've already thought out everything the player should be able to do and the controls for everything, it becomes hard to realize that maybe some things are superfluous or even detrimental to the game experience you're trying to evoke in the player. Also, when you should find yourself in the position that you want to wrap up the project for whatever reason, how do you know what is more, and what is less important (and thus, what should be cut first, and what should remain)



Now that that big problem is discussed, some more remarks and questions on what you've outlined.



Low resolution, bad quality 3D visual sounds slightly nauseating. It doesn't have to be, but be careful

How does the player know his choices impact the storyline?

What is unique about this survival horror game? Can you hone in on that?

How does the player know in what "state" his avatar is? E.g. how does he know his aim is terrible because he's exhausted right now?

This has been mentioned, but how can you see that you're wounded when you're in first person view?

How does a player know how reloading works?



Oh, and! Keep working on the idea, maybe starting a prototype It's awesome you're working on your own project so keep on going! ^^



* The experience goal is the first thing Jesse Schell makes us look at in his book "The Art Of Game Design" (lens of essential experience)

* You can also look at this using the MDA/DDE framework: you outline a lot of mechanics/design, but it is unclear into what dynamics this translates and what experience you want to rise out of it.