Half-filled

Alone inside a half-filled cube, you must master impossible water, uncover forgotten memories, and decide what survival truly means.

Inspiration

Half-Filled began with a simple but powerful image: a person trapped inside a transparent cube partially filled with water. I have always been fascinated by themes of confinement, resilience, and the relationship between humans and their environments. The initial inspiration came from observing conceptual art and installations that explored restricted spaces and human vulnerability. I wanted to transform that feeling into an interactive experience where survival is not about fighting enemies, but about understanding and adapting to an impossible world. The idea evolved into a game where the environment itself becomes the primary antagonist. Water behaves in ways that defy logic, cubes constantly change the rules, and survival depends on observation, experimentation, and adaptation.

What it does

Half-Filled is a survival and resource-management experience centered around a trapped human struggling to survive inside a series of transparent cubes. As players progress, they uncover fragments of forgotten memories, learn the rules of an impossible environment, and discover a mysterious egg that eventually hatches into a fish companion. What begins as a survival mechanic gradually becomes an emotional relationship. The player must decide how to balance personal survival with responsibility for another life. The game explores themes of resilience, isolation, hope, adaptation, and the meaning of survival when another life depends on your choices.

How we built it

The project started with the core gameplay question: “How can survival remain engaging when the environment itself constantly changes the rules?” To answer that question, I designed the game around several interconnected systems: • Impossible water behavior • Environmental adaptation • Oxygen and resource management • Progressive cube-based challenges • Companion development • Mystery-driven exploration • Multiple endings based on player choices The game’s progression was carefully structured so that each cube introduces a new survival concept while reinforcing previously learned mechanics. This creates increasing complexity without overwhelming the player. The fish companion was introduced later in development as a way to create emotional investment and strengthen the connection between gameplay and narrative.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was balancing complexity and accessibility. The concept includes many interconnected systems: • Oxygen • Water behavior • Environmental hazards • Companion care • Resource management • Narrative discovery The challenge was ensuring that players feel challenged without becoming overwhelmed. Another challenge was creating a companion system that felt meaningful rather than purely functional. The fish needed to be useful enough to matter mechanically while also becoming emotionally important to the player. Finally, designing multiple endings required careful consideration so that each outcome felt like a natural consequence of the player’s decisions rather than a simple final choice.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud of creating a unique survival experience that combines environmental challenges, emotional storytelling, and meaningful player choices. The evolving relationship between the player and the fish companion became one of the most rewarding parts of the design.

What we learned

One of the most important lessons I learned during development was that challenge alone is not enough to keep players engaged. Players need curiosity, emotional investment, and meaningful progression. This realization led to the addition of: • Memory Fragments • Companion progression • Hidden discoveries • Multiple endings • Emotional decision-making I also learned the importance of introducing mechanics gradually. Rather than presenting every survival system at once, the game slowly reveals new mechanics through exploration and progression.

What's next for Half-filled

Half-Filled is ultimately about transforming confusion into understanding and isolation into connection. Through observation, adaptation, and perseverance, players gradually learn to survive in a world that constantly challenges their assumptions. The goal is not simply to escape the cubes, but to discover what survival truly means.