portfolio

3D Puzzle Game x Original Short Film

The Door

Story Overview

Trapped in a psychiatric ward, the protagonist journeys through memories of childhood, youth, and adulthood, each distorted by delusion. As reality unravels, a final vision reveals a long-deceased mother—and the hidden truth behind the illness.

The short film traces the protagonist’s descent into delusion—from the boundless imagination of childhood to the final collapse where illusion and reality intertwine. As the story unfolds, shifting colors, camera angles, and editing rhythms mirror the character’s unstable perception, drawing players deeper into the hallucinatory experience.

Within the 3D puzzle game, cinematic short films emerge as visions of hallucination, expanding both narrative depth and visual expression. These films not only enrich the storytelling but also immerse the player in a dreamlike, unsettling atmosphere.

3D Puzzle Game x Original Short Film

Core Gameplay

Players uncover the truth of the story by solving puzzles and watching films.

Demo Video link: https://youtu.be/2Dt3C6wPOn4?si=XDghN4rw7nuvcSVh

Design Document link:

Puzzle-oriented mini-games (e.g., assembling jigsaw pieces) serve as gateways to unlocking room-specific mysteries and progressing further into the narrative.

Mini-Games

Gameplay Core

Research

The game draws inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s Inception, exploring illusions that mimic reality and the fragile boundary between dream and waking life.

In Inception, the world appears real until the moment we realise it is a dream or hallucination—only then does it collapse. Yet the collapse itself raises a haunting question: does it truly return us to reality?

Echoing the film’s spinning top, the game’s recurring motif of “doors” keeps this uncertainty alive, leaving players to wonder whether the world they step back into is real—or just another layer of illusion.

Delusional Disorder is a severe mental illness in which the patient experiences persistent, strong beliefs that are not in line with reality. Throughout the protagonist's life, they experience several types of delusional disorders, including erotomantic delusions, persecutory delusions, and shared delusions.

Inception (Film)

Delusional Disorder

Erotomantic Delusions

Persecutory Delusions

Shared Delusions

In this type of delusion, the patient is firmly convinced that someone is in love with them, even in the face of explicit rejection.

In the game, this is depicted as the protagonist preparing gifts for an imagined boyfriend.

Patients with persecutory delusions believe they are being attacked or persecuted by external forces.

In the game, this is represented by the protagonist experiencing hallucinations of being threatened by toys.

This occurs when individuals living closely with a person suffering from delusional disorder come to share and believe in the same delusional content.

In the game, the protagonist is influenced by their mother's delusions and begins to perceive hallucinations as part of their real life.

Interaction

Players can engage with both objects and characters. Core interactions include examining items, resizing objects, and conversing with NPCs.

Players must solve puzzles across four different rooms to find a way to escape, uncovering the root cause of the protagonist’s hallucinations in the end.

Puzzle-Solving

Storytelling

The protagonist’s journey begins in a joyful childhood, surrounded by the love of her father and a mother who nurtures her imagination. She grows up believing in her own "magic" and lives in a world of endless possibilities.

As a teenager, she falls in love and prepares a series of gifts for her boyfriend, only to realize that he exists solely in her mind. Disturbed by her growing hallucinations, she seeks psychiatric help. For a time, the visions fade, but they return with the birth of her daughter. Now a mother, everyday objects trigger hallucinations, and even her time with her daughter is clouded by illusions. Despite constant medication, her condition worsens.

Determined to understand the root of her delusions, she enters treatment at a hospital. There, she encounters her long-lost mother in a hallucination and uncovers a repressed memory: her mother, suffering from postpartum depression, ended her life during the protagonist’s adolescence. Witnessing her mother's suicide, the protagonist’s mind blurred the trauma with layers of fantasy.

False Ending & True Ending

Film 4 depicts the protagonist’s apparent awakening. She finally realizes that she has been trapped within her mother’s death and her own self-constructed delusions. Emerging from this haze, she returns to the real world and lays flowers at her mother’s grave—a symbolic act of reconciliation with her past self.

Yet as she opens her eyes, a familiar door reappears—the same one from her hallucinations (Chapter 4–5). It becomes clear that her “awakening” may itself be another illusion.

Film 5 reveals the truth. In this recording, the protagonist speaks directly to the camera, leaving a warning for her future self: never trust what appears to be “real.” Every moment of clarity might simply mark the beginning of the next hallucination—for the boundary between illusion and reality can never truly be known.

Level Design

Level 1 — Interact with objects to gather information; jigsaw mini-game.

Level 2 — Place objects from the room into a gift box.

Roadmap

Step 1

Interact with objects in the room

to learn information about them.

Step 2

Complete the jigsaw puzzle

to unlock the door and proceed to Film 1.

Level 1–2 Interlude — Walk through the darkness and open a distant door.

Roadmap

Step 1

Interact with objects to place them into the gift box, but each item is immediately ejected.

Step 2

After attempting to place all the gifts, the room door opens, leading to Film 2.

Level 2-3 Interlude — Walk through the darkness and open a distant door.

Level 3 — Restore oddly sized objects to their normal proportions.

Roadmap

Step 1

Interact with objects in the room to return oversized or undersized items to their original dimensions.

Step 2

Once all objects are restored, the door opens, leading to Film 3.

Level 3-4 Interlude — Walk through the darkness and open a distant door.

Level 4 — Converse with the mother in the room.

Step 1

Engage in dialogue with the mother, during which she disappears and reappears elsewhere in the room.

Step 2

After completing the conversation, the door opens, leading to Film 4.

Level 4-5 Interlude — Walk through the darkness and open a distant door.

Level 1 — Interact with objects to gather information; jigsaw mini-game.

Level 2 – Adolescence

The protagonist, yearning for love, begins a relationship with a boy. As their anniversary approaches, she prepares thoughtful gifts, only to realize the “boyfriend” exists only in her mind.

Film 2

This triggers memories of her parents’ troubled marriage, marked by frequent arguments and emotional distance.

Narrative Progression by Level

Level 1 – Childhood

The protagonist grows up in a loving family, with a father who works daily and a mother who encourages her imagination. She believes she has “magic” and enjoys creating fantastical creatures from animal puzzles.

Film 1

On her fifth birthday, the protagonist receives a video camera. When it accidentally falls, her parents rush to her side, showing their love and care.

Level 4 – Confrontation

Determined to uncover the cause of her illness, the protagonist undergoes treatment. In a hallucination, she meets her deceased mother and uncovers a buried memory.

Film 4

Her mother, struggling with postpartum depression, preferred fantasy over reality, ultimately ending her life during the protagonist’s adolescence. This traumatic memory, erased by the protagonist, resurfaces, leading to a moment of clarity. Yet, she finds herself before a mysterious door, unsure if her awakening is real or another illusion.

Film 5

In a lucid moment, the protagonist records a message to her future self, warning that she may still be trapped in the cycle of hallucinations.

Level 3 – Motherhood

After seeking psychiatric help for her hallucinations, the protagonist’s condition stabilizes, but it worsens after the birth of her daughter. Everyday objects trigger new hallucinations.

Film 3

Even her time with her daughter is interrupted by visions. Desperate, she turns to heavy medication, but the hallucinations continue.

Storyboard

Visual Style of the Films

Film Design

Story Concept

The films in the game are presented as footage shot by the protagonist with her video camera, gradually transforming from real recordings to vessels of memory as hallucinations seep in.

Film 1 captures a moment from childhood, where the protagonist’s parents lovingly prepare a birthday cake, and the camera itself is a gift. This film represents the warmth and harmony of her early years.

Film 2 shifts to a late-night scene, where the protagonist secretly records her parents arguing. The wine glasses and ashtray reflect the household’s unrest, culminating in the sound of shattering glass, leaving the viewer uncertain whether the red liquid is wine or blood.

Film 3 features the protagonist playing with her daughter, but surreal, unsettling imagery gradually invades the scene. This marks the first full blending of hallucination and reality, reflecting the protagonist’s struggle to distinguish between the two after childbirth.

Film 4 follows a conversation with her hallucinatory mother, where the protagonist recalls a repressed memory. The footage is entirely distorted, showing her mother dancing into suicide, trapped in delusion. The protagonist "awakens" and plans to visit her mother’s grave.

Film 5 serves as the true ending, returning to a reality-based recording. The protagonist had once filmed a warning: her "awakening" may be another hallucination, and she cannot trust her perception of reality.

The five films mirror the protagonist’s descent into and emergence from delusion, with the final real recording questioning what is truly real, challenging both the protagonist and the player to reflect on the nature of "reality."