Demo Overview
Studio:
Twyn Rivers Entertainment
Release Date:
September 28, 2026
Dev Time:
5 months
Platforms:
PC
Engine:
Unreal
Playtime Estimate:
10 – 15 minutes
Credit:
Game Director / Writer / Programmer / Game Designer / Audio Designer
About
This is a proof of concept
for a retro-action story game
set in 1980s Japan
targeted at a busy adult audience.
Roles
This is a project I created from the ground up. I wrote the story and designed the game, assembled a team capable of creating the whole production, and made a demo with that team. I programmed the experience using Unreal Game Engine.
Audience
*Click items with arrows to expand them.
Has 2-4 hours of free time each week
Wants a game that is easy to learn, gets going right away, and comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Wants a game about a novel topic with a relatable theme
Has interests that have evolved as they have aged.
Wants a polished game at a lower price
Like seeing a movie at the theatre.
Story Synopsis
It’s the 1980s in Tokyo and its suburbs, and a visitor (the player) travels from overseas to live with a host family. The visitor does not speak the language, but uses the “Magic Eye” camera dictionary to translate the world around them.
All is not as it seems. The visitor slowly learns their host family is trapped in a troubling familial issue – one caused by a brother-in-law and his gang, and the host parents’ own unsavoury past.
With the family’s dream of a flourishing household in jeopardy, the visitor must take a chance and try to cross the unspoken boundary between guest and member of the family.
More Story Details…
Read the full story summary:
Excerpt from the full script:
The full script is available to read by special request only 😉
Player Experience
First-person perspective.
A linear progression
of scenes.
Each scene the player controls
something different.
(ex. flashlight, camera, gun, car, etc.)
Feature Highlight:
The Subtitle System
Players must contend with a language barrier. Click to learn more about it.
The character doesn’t know Japanese. When others speak they don’t understand.
Players use a camera
to capture words and concepts from the environment.
Subtitles for captured words appear going forward.
Including a language barrier as part of the play experience is crucial for conveying both the disorienting feeling of living with a host family in a foreign language, and also for conveying the theme of moving from an outside member to an inside member.
In the beginning, players will feel like complete outsiders, not understanding anything. As they play they will start to understand things in a broken way, feeling as though they are starting to crack through. By collecting even more words, and over multiple playthroughs, players transition into feeling like part of the family’s inner circle.
Feature Highlight:
The “Magic Eye” Camera
Players often have access to the “Magic Eye” camera electronic dictionary. Click to learn how it works.
The player simply aims the camera at an object and shoots—getting a translation. The camera remembers all the words it has captured.
The Magic Eye can see more than just objects and things—it can dig deeper and describe targets in greater detail.
It can even reveal the abstract. Each target has a counter showing how many concepts can be captured.
Finally, the Magic Eye records all the conversations the player encounters, which can be reviewed later.
The Magic Eye is the key for allowing the player to understand their new environment and to help them make connections with others.
The Team
Miyuki Yamada
Character Art
Concept Art
Game Design
.
David
Kingsmill
Production
QA
.
Rie
Higuchi
Production
.
.
Ryan
Honey
Special Thanks
.
.
Colin
Sanders
Director
Game Design
Programming
Asako
Tsujino
Japanese Script
.
.
Matt
Kidd
Car Escape
Animation
.
Matthew Reyes &
Cecilia
Music
.
.
* Not pictured: Alisia Takabe-French, the voice of Megumi in the demo.
What’s the difference
between family and guest?
It depends on who
you let inside.
