Silence Better

Silence is best when it comes to paranormal phenomena. Identify the ghost in a haunted house without making a sound – one wrong move, and it’s game over. Gather clues, stay quiet, outwit the spirits.

Comment

Imagine being alone in a house. Footsteps echo in the distance, whispers fill the air... You must uncover the truth before it’s too late. Identify the ghost, but tread carefully – one wrong move, one sound too many, and the haunting will claim you.

Inspiration

The inspiration for Silence Better came from classic ghost stories and suspenseful games that rely on atmosphere rather than action. I wanted to create a unique experience where players feel the tension of exploring a haunted house while staying as quiet as possible. The idea of managing noise as a core mechanic added a fresh twist to mystery-solving games.

What it does

Silence Better is an immersive mystery-solving game where players explore haunted rooms, gather clues, and try to identify the ghost haunting the house. The challenge is to do all this without making too much noise — every wrong action or repeated movement increases the noise level. If the noise becomes too high, the ghost wins, and it’s game over.

How I built it

I used the Devvit platform for Reddit to build the game as a custom post type, enabling interactive experiences for players. Key features include:

  • A dynamic room exploration system.
  • Noise-level management displayed as a progress bar.
  • A randomized ghost and clue system.
  • Modular components for screens and rooms, ensuring clean and maintainable code.

The development involved combining TypeScript, React-like components (Devvit UI framework), and clever game logic to manage states and user interactions.

Challenges I ran into

One of the biggest challenges was implementing the noise-level mechanics while ensuring the game logic worked seamlessly across rooms. Additionally:

  • Managing state efficiently across multiple screens to ensure the game flows logically and transitions smoothly.
  • Ensuring the UI remained user-friendly and responsive, even with dynamically changing elements like randomized clues and noise indicators.
  • Creating meaningful gameplay interactions that were both challenging and engaging, such as balancing clue discovery and noise penalties.
  • Debugging platform-specific issues, especially around sharing results and maintaining consistency with Devvit's API constraints.
  • Adding immersive elements, like ghost behaviors and randomized clue discovery, without overwhelming the player or losing game focus.

These challenges pushed me to think critically about balancing mechanics and player experience, ultimately enhancing the game's design.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I’m proud to have built a suspenseful and replayable game in a limited timeframe (having learned about the hackathon 4 days before it ended). Achievements include:

  • Creating a fully interactive haunted house with immersive visuals and dynamic logic.
  • Implementing the noise-level mechanic, which adds real tension to gameplay.
  • Successfully modularizing the game code, making it scalable and easy to maintain.

What was learned

  • Building interactive UI components under platform-specific constraints to ensure a seamless and engaging player experience.
  • Managing game state and logic efficiently to handle multiple conditions, player progress, and outcomes cleanly.
  • Implementing a multiplayer-like interaction: By creating a "Share Results" feature that allows players to post their game achievements in subreddit comments, fostering community engagement.
  • Designing dynamic gameplay systems that adapt to randomized content, providing replayability and unpredictability.

This experience deepened my understanding of balancing functionality, user interaction, and platform limitations to deliver a polished game.

What's next for Silence Better

Possible improvements for Silence Better include:

  • Dynamic ghost stories and behaviors: Introduce ghosts with unique backstories, clues, and evolving behaviors to add depth and unpredictability.
  • Randomized gameplay elements: Generate rooms, shuffle clue discovery, and introduce variability in which hints appear, ensuring each playthrough feels fresh.
  • Progressive difficulty levels: Allow reuse of hints at the cost of increasing noise or unlocking harder challenges as players progress.
  • Second chance mechanic: Offer players a chance to solve a quick riddle after losing to regain progress and continue the game.
  • A leaderboard system for players to compare completion times, noise levels, and other achievements.

These enhancements aim to make Silence Better even more immersive, challenging, and replayable for the community.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates