darkhouse
Darkhouse is a narrative game, where you play as someone with dissociative identity disorder (DID), discovering that your mind holds different personalities, or alters, that protect you. As you journey through your own mind, you can choose to uncover the painful memories of your past, which could be too much to handle, or stay safe with your alters who keep those memories hidden. The game is about deciding between facing your trauma or staying protected, while exploring memory and healing.
I wasn’t sure whether to place Darkhouse in the narrative or level design section of my portfolio, as it heavily relies on both. Since the environments, mechanics, and dialogue all work together, I decided to include it in both sections.
meaning
The game's name has two meanings.
​
DID often develops in children who suffer abuse before the age of 5, causing their mind to split into multiple parts for protection, usually behind closed doors at home.
The name also contrasts with a lighthouse; while a lighthouse guides ships through darkness, Darkhouse leads players through painful, hidden memories.
Alters the player meets in the game
​
Host
The original owner of the body, the main personality who starts the journey.
Alter
An alternative personality, each representing a different aspect of the protagonist's psyche.
System
The collective term for the Host and Alters living together inside the mind's "inner world."
To Front
The action of an alter taking control of the body, becoming the active personality.
Little
A child alter, often representing the inner child who never experienced a normal childhood.
Protector
An adult alter who holds the most memories of abuse and fronts to shield the Host from external harm, also managing the other alters.
Doorkeeper
An alter who holds no memories but controls which alter can front at the right moment, particularly in times of trauma or abuse.
gameplay
level 1
For Level 1, I introduced the Doorkeeper who holds no memories of their own, serves as the perfect guide to introducing the player to the portal system. Level 1 is designed as a dark, narrow tunnel with six memory shards scattered throughout.
Each shard has a dialogue system that connects the host’s fragmented memories. Though the host doesn’t remember everything, by reading the memories and hearing the accompanying sound effects, players gradually piece together the story of a child hiding from an abuser.
level 2
Teleporting from the tunnel to Level 2, the player arrives in a child’s room where everything is oversized, creating a sense of loneliness, smallness, and vulnerability. This level belongs to Little, a child alter who playfully invites the player to find them. The room contains four key locations, each designed as a supposed safe space for a child, but each might carry unseen danger.
Little’s tone shifts from playful to sad, revealing a small, lonely child at the center of the room, longing to be noticed. When the player finally says, “I found you,” Little allows them to move forward.
level 3
Level 3 takes place in a dark corridor - Protector’s domain. The goal is to find a way out. As the player progresses, they hear (or read) Protector’s angry voice, speaking as though they are a strict parent addressing a teenager trying to escape home. The player needs to follow the correct sequence of shapes on the walls and doors to navigate through the corridor. Choosing the wrong door resets their progress, teleporting them back to the beginning of the corridor.
At the end of the level, the player meets Protector, who presents them with a final choice: to remember their past, losing the protection of their alters and facing the truth alone, or to stay where they are, shielded by their System but never fully knowing what happened. The left door (to remember) leads to the main menu, signaling an open ending as the player exits the host’s mind. The right door (to stay) loops them back to Level 1, symbolizing their mind trapping them in a cycle of forgetting and protection.
retrospective
Darkhouse was my first game where I built levels, and as a beginner, I wasn't really sure about how to do it the right way so i experimented, especially with lighting, which became my favorite part of level design. Writing about such a heavy topic was emotionally challenging, and I did a lot of researching on DID, watched interviews with people who live with it. I wanted to tell the story not just through dialogue but through the sound, light, mechanics (with the help of a programmer), colors, and different challenges in each level. It was a deeply meaningful project that started my narrative level journey.