What are the players doing?
In the game, you will explore a relatively small modern city for seven days. Each day, you have 12 hours to explore and move. Every day, you will face some value-related choices. This will not be an obvious score, but it will change an intangible karma balance (i.e., “karma value”). Overnight, the entire world will react – light, color, weather, sound, objects and characters – subtly revealing what kind of person you are becoming. At the end of the seventh day, the score you have accumulated will determine the ending of the story.
System
1. Invisible Karma (Core)
Records the weight of good and evil; however, these weight values are never presented in numerical form.
It affects the final route planning and the global changes the next day’s “strength”.
It is evenly distributed to avoid the dominance of a single option; accumulated over seven consecutive days.
2. Visible Reputation (For Players)
It will be displayed on the head-up display and presented in the dialogue feedback.
It controls the attitude of NPCs, the feasibility of side quests, and the shortcut paths.
The way it increases/decreases may be different from “karma” (for example, a secretly performed good deed will increase the “karma” value, but it will not improve the “reputation” and may even reduce it instead).
3. The World as a User Interface (Environmental Feedback)
Overnight, the entire world becomes a progress bar. The main readable channels are:
Lighting / Color Temperature
Soft Light: The light is warmer and more stable; shadows are softer.
Cool Tone: The light is colder and more glaring; contrast is high or there is a flickering phenomenon.
“Soundscapes”
Warmth: Birds, gentle breeze, intervals between adjacent syllables, lower noise level.
Coldness: Metal clashing sound, dissonant notes, irregular rhythm.
Object state/cleanliness
Warmth: Clean indoor environment, fresh flowers, repaired items.
Condition: Props damaged, garbage and debris, graffiti marks, decorations missing. Weather
Warmth: Clear sky, gentle breeze, occasional sunlight.
Weather conditions: Overcast, gusty winds, rain or thunder.
NPC (Non-Player Character) attitude
Warmth: Greetings, discounts, invitations.
Cold: Avoidance, suspicion, rising prices.
Design intent: Players will focus on the final outcome of the game rather than getting overly obsessed with the specific numerical values.
Just like this apple, “good” makes it shine brightly, while “evil” makes it rotten.
4. Hand return marker (reminder)
Pressing the V key allows you to view the scale tattoo on your right hand; its tilt angle and Roman numerals indicate the date.
5.Inventory and interaction
Small items (photos, keys, scissors, notepaper) can be placed inside the bag.
These items provide different solutions (for example, repairing a picture frame and choosing to ignore it).
Interaction; Pressing the E key confirms the selection; Pressing the Tab key opens the bag; Pressing the Esc key sets the settings.
Daily Process (Example)
Morning (Game Start): The light is a bit softer than yesterday; however, the neighbors no longer greet you actively.
Exploration: In the park, you find a lost wallet.
Options:
Hand over to the police→ If the owner expresses gratitude to you, your “karma” value will increase and your “reputation” value will also rise.
Keep it → The reason is – ; if it is not noticed, the reputation will not change. You can later sell the phone to obtain a large amount of money, and your “karma” will decrease.
Overnight Update: The weather and decorations have been adjusted; new dialogue content will start the next day’s plot. (This merely shows a side story event about the mobile phone choice. In the game, there will be some main quests and a large number of optional side quests.)
Endings (spoiler-safe outline)
- Happy ending: Accumulate sufficient good deeds points → The scale disappears and one is reborn
- Sad ending: The accumulated evil points are negative → The scale disappears and one faces death
Difficulty & Failure
- This game doesn’t have a very clear “losing” player. Even players can consider achieving a cold ending as their goal.
- “Difficult” = Correctly understanding this world and making choices within a limited time. (Because it takes time for the player to move on the map, and the time given to the player each day is limited. Once the time is up, the game will force the player to enter the next day.)
- As shown in the figure, players need to spend a certain amount of time moving between different areas. For example, it takes 40 minutes of game time to move from “Kettle” to “Mirefell Park”, and then another 40 minutes to reach “Mirefell Park”. However, the time available for players to use each day is only 12 hours. Once the time is exhausted, no matter where the player is, they will return to “Kettle” to start the next day’s exploration.
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