Psycho Mini-Adaptation

Adapting media from one form into another is a pillar in the world of creative expression, and when it comes to game design, this concept takes on a whole new dimension. Specifically, within game-to-film adaptations, how do you make something you watch retain its essence and enjoyment within a playable form? Sounding simple enough, this development process involved more outside-the-box solutions than I ever imagined.

Outlining the project, I knew I wanted to adapt Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic, Psycho. Choosing what game genre proved a harder choice. If you’ve ever watched Psycho, you know it creates its suspenseful atmosphere primarily through dialogue and an unspoken tension built throughout the narrative. Paired with a revolutionary sound design for added suspense, similar to Hitchcock, I knew I would need all of these elements to make an adaptation reminiscent of the original.

Some of my favorite narrative-driven games came in my childhood through the form of Pokemon RPGs. I absolutely loved the top-down style, which told stories and had intense battles all through a teletext system. These elements had similarities to the feelings of tension and suspense I was trying to portray in my Psycho adaptation. I chose to make my game a teletext RPG reminiscent of Earthbound and Pokemon, highlighting the intro and climax of Hitchcock’s classic.

My goal was to make the teletext system feel unique; a way of displaying a narrative through text that still built tension while enhancing gameplay took several attempts. Ultimately, I settled on a custom system built in Phaser that would occupy the entire view to make it feel similar to an interactive story. Alongside the teletext, I focused on carefully synced sounds throughout, trying to emulate Hitchcock’s method of building suspense for a scare using music and sound effects.

Developing a top-down style level also proved more complex than I initially thought and required several drafts. Specifically, telling a story and ensuring there are gameplay elements that don’t feel forced or artificial took numerous playtests and designs.

By the end of the sprint, I completed a short, polished adaptation of Psycho complete with a full teletext system. Although I wish the finished product was a bit longer, I learned an important lesson in planning short-sprint schedules and how to develop top-down RPGs, a genre I always dreamed of developing commercially as a child.