Conversation choices have negative and positive effects on certain characters' enjoyment, including the player character!

The player is using core mechanics 'Uniform' (E and Q buttons) & 'Sandwich' (Middle and Left Mouse Click) to solve a puzzle 

The player uses 'Sandwich' to uncover key and 'Uniform' to ride the car in order to get through the fence, solving the puzzle

​Project Description

Intent

With this game, I intended to explore the feeling of exhaustion one might feel when having to put up a polite front during times in their life where everything is falling apart. The game is structured around the single truth that, for any relationship to grow, both parties need to feel enjoyment when they interact. All the dialogue in Animus is a mechanic, and the player needs to balance the needs and wants of each NPC with the needs and wants of their reluctant, blunt, grief-ridden player character.

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I also wanted to meld a few different genres with this game. All dialogue happens in a visual novel state, but the player can walk around the world in a more top-down RPG-based style. Combat in this game is turn-based strategy, and cutscenes are read like comic books. This mix of various game states was done to create a unique player experience, taking from the best aspects of each inspiration in order to enhance each specific game state.

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Personal Contribution and Development History

Animus is a project I have been concepting and reworking since the Fall of 2021, but it wasn't until Spring of 2025 that I got to sit down and start making it. The first 3 months of the project were entirely built by me, creating a foundational 30 minutes of gameplay that then allowed me to shop it around to other devs who might be interested in working on it.

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Since August of 2025, I have been working with on-boarded developers to plan out the rest of the game, rework the first chapter, and move the entire project over to Godot. 

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Since completing the proof of concept, Animus has been a side-lined project for me, but I have never stopped learning for its development. It has worked as an inspiration, refresher, and palate cleanser for every project I have worked on since, often reminding me what I love about game development in times when other projects have left me burned out. It is a constant reminder of why I do this, and has taught me the importance of finding the passion for you in any project you end up working on.

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Systems & Mechanics

Relationship & Enjoyment

​The main goal of this game is to maximize the enjoyment of all characters involved in each interaction to build the player's relationship with each NPC. Each dialogue option impacts enjoyment. Getting high enjoyment can unlock more cut scenes. 

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Uniform

Uniform lets the player switch perspective into an object or another version of themselves. In the future, I intend to allow the player to switch perspective with NPCs based on how high their relationship is.

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To use 'Uniform', click 'E' to switch perspective, and 'Q' to go back

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Sandwich

The player can change game objects by entering 'Sandwich Mode' and clicking anything highlighted in blue. This can create new objects out of old objects, which helps the player progress through puzzles, as shown to the left.

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To use 'Sandwich', middle mouse click to enter 'Sandwich Mode', then left mouse click on anything highlighted in blue.

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