The Rose Boy

I don't want to hide because of my differences. I will bravely face the reality this time.

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Inspiration

On April 20, 2000, the famous "The Rose Boy" Ye Yong-Cheng incident occurred in Taiwan. Ye Yong-Cheng was a junior high school boy who enjoyed cooking and weaving. However, he was mocked by his classmates for his traits and even bullied, which made him afraid to go to the toilets during class. On this day, he went to the toilet five minutes before class ended as usual, but never returned. His death led Taiwan to pass the Gender Equality Education Law and made Jolin Tsai's the same-name song the best song of the year, which everyone remembers and sings...

Bullying stories always happen in the memories of teenagers' school lives. In today's society where gender diversity issues are receiving increased attention, we hope to use VR puzzle game to allow players to immerse themselves in their school memories. Through the unique story of "The Rose Boy", players can learn to respect every individual.

What it does

"The Rose Boy" is an integrated VR escape room with a puzzle game. At the beginning of the experience, the player is chased and locked in a toilet cubicle by bullies from classmates. The player can hear the taunts of their classmates outside the cubicle. Can the player successfully escape the toilet by the end of the game?

The player will use the graffiti on the cubicle wall to unlock and transition into different VR memory spaces. Within these spaces, such as a closet or a storage room, the player will interact with object clues to piece together his own personal story, and obtain three treasures with superpower. In the end, these treasures will help the player gain courage and successfully break free from confinement. At the end of the experience, we will utilize PICO's XR technology to merge the player's real-world space. This time, the player can choose not to hide in a repressive environment but instead, open the door and step into the real world with courage.

How we built it

Narrow Scenes The toilet, closet, and storage room are three scenes where people are reluctant to linger. The oppressive atmosphere creates a great sense of ambiance for the game.

Fragmented Narrative Each interactive object represents a memory. Players gradually piece together the original story by interacting with these items such as diaries, photos, and graffiti, ultimately revealing the truth behind the narrative.

Design of the Final Scene Players will eventually transition from the narrow rooms to a real space based on PICO Room Capture. Meanwhile, symbolic elements of key props like notes and text float in the scene, forming a bridge between the virtual and real worlds.

Unique Points

Bullying and gender variety are essential issues nowadays. Although they are discussed more frequently, most mass media’s opinions tend to be extreme. It is hard to help people really understand vulnerable people’s experiences. We hope this interesting VR game will recall young users’ school memories and put them in different people’s shoes. At the same time, it can encourage people to be different and be themselves. It can also be a meaningful VR game to apply in educational situations.

Besides, we use PICO Sence Pack to combine three different spaces to express the suppressed feelings of the main character and give a cheerful ending which invites the audience to physically walk out of the virtual space to bring courage to the real world.

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