The game Undying Cold is a Twine game that is centered around traversing an icy landscape in order to find any remnants of humanity. I wanted to make a survival game centered on exploration and finding clues, however soon discovered that the game would well over be over 100 passages in order to have a satisfactory end. I decided instead to focus on the survival aspect of the game instead, where the player has to stay alive while traversing the snowy landscape.
The aspects of my original idea can be seen near the beginning of the game. Where the player can explore an abandoned town to find clues that may give context for certain passages or unlock hidden passages in the future. Exploring may also allow the player to find useful items for their survival.
In order to add a more gameplay feel to the game rather than it feeling like an interactive story. I added a coldness meter that increases each time the player explores a passage. The player has to keep the coldness meter in check in order to survive. Firestarters are limited items that the player can find throughout the game that can reduce the coldness meter. With the end goal for the player being to find civilization while not succumbing to the cold. However, the player can get easily lost and succumb if they don’t pay attention to their surroundings or keep their coldness meter in check.