Knock Knock Nightmare

Inspiration

We wanted to capture the sweaty-palm tension of survival horror, but completely stripped down to a mobile interface. What if the horror wasn't in a 3D world, but directly on the glass you are touching?

This game is a completely original IP. We took the 200-year-old, universal childhood adrenaline rush of "ding-dong-ditch" and twisted it with the dark lore of Mexican culture—incorporating entities like Las Brujas and a twisted version of El Ratón de los Dientes. (the Mexican equivalent of the Tooth Fairy)

What it does

Knock Knock Nightmare is a 100% UI-based mobile survival horror game. Players navigate a terrifying interactive interface, knocking on 2D UI doors to gather Grave Dust, uncovering cursed relics, and physically holding the screen to hide from folklore entities like La Llorona.

How we built it

We focused entirely on designing a "featherweight" mobile experience. We bypassed heavy 3D rendering in favor of high-res 2D UI textures, true-black OLED aesthetics, and binaural audio to build tension.

Please see the attached PDF design documents for the complete Game Design Document, Player Journey Map, Visual Concept Package, and Production Plan.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was figuring out how to make the game genuinely terrifying without using any 3D environments or monster models. We had to build intense fear using only the UI, relying entirely on true-black screen space, sudden high-contrast flashes, and forcing the player to physically hold the glass of their screen while listening to terrifying binaural audio.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are incredibly proud of completely pivoting our original concept to a much tighter, smarter, 100% UI-based design. We successfully mapped out a complete, production-ready pre-production package—including the GDD, Player Journey Map, Visual Concept, and Production Plan—proving that this game is highly scalable, realistic to build, and perfectly tailored for mobile devices.

What we learned

We learned the immense value of aggressive scoping. By stripping away heavy 3D elements and focusing purely on a mobile interface, we discovered that genuine horror can be delivered entirely through sensory feedback, pacing, and UI interactions. We also learned how crucial a rock-solid pre-production package is for maintaining a clear, scalable vision.

What's next for Knock Knock Nightmare

Our immediate next step is executing our production plan to build out the core UI framework and test the sensory mechanics.

However, our long-term vision is to treat Knock Knock Nightmare as a scalable live-service experience. Because the game relies entirely on 2D UI assets and audio rather than heavy 3D modeling, pushing future updates is incredibly lightweight and cost-effective. We plan to release seasonal updates that introduce new folklore entities, expand the neighborhood with new cursed doors, and add new relics to keep the meta fresh. The architecture is designed to easily support live events, global leaderboards, and an ever-expanding roster of nightmares.

Built With

• canva
• capcut
• gemini
• typescript