Frankie Cavanagh is the lead designer and owner of Pocket Money Games, an independent games company based in the northeast of England. As a VR evangelist and creator of ten VR titles, most notably the redesign and development of Superhot VR, Frankie has also helped bring The Twilight Zone into the realm of VR.
Featuring contributions by gaming veteran Rob Yescombe (The Invisible Hours, Rime, Farpoint), screenwriter Dwayne Alexander Smith (Forty Acres), developed by Cavanagh and UK-based Pocket Money Studios team, the experience features three self-contained single-player episodes spanning multiple genres ranging from psychological horror to science fiction. Cavanagh sat down to chat about bringing The Twilight Zone to life and what players can expect.
How does this VR Experience bring the world of The Twilight Zone to life?
The Twilight Zone VR puts the player in a unique position that the tv show never could, you are the protagonist, and if you know anything about The Twilight Zone, you know it’s not going to end well for you.
What were the biggest obstacles to creating The Twilight Zone VR?
Right from the get-go, we had to ask the hard questions, is there a crossover in the demographics of VR players and Twilight Zone Fans? And if so, what kind of game would they expect? One of the biggest obstacles came right at the start of development during research, and fundamentally the TV show is a narrative-based show that relies heavily on the spoken word and story. However, our research shows that players enjoy an action-adventure experience over a sole story-based one. With this in mind, We set two rules that we followed throughout the development.
- The game should always stay true to The Twilight Zone structure and story style.
- The game must be just as enjoyable to people who have never seen The Twilight Zone as diehard fans.
Was your focus primarily on capturing the tone, or are specific episodes referenced?
All the Twilight Zone VR stories are original, so everything came down to tone; rewatching all the episodes helped. But identifying Rod Serling’s tropes and patterns was only half of the problem. Should the narrator appear in the intro of a story if you are the protagonist rather than the viewer?
Should the player be given a chance at redemption when the original TV show never did? Ultimately, we end up with something unique that screamed Twilight Zone. These are The Twilight Zone episodes there never were.
Are there any Easter eggs for diehard fans?
Lots! We have also left a few clues for non-fans to help find. Each easter egg unlocks a Twilight Zone theme ranging from a ’50s black and white aesthetic to a pixelated monochromic retro game mode.
Can you explain the gameplay a bit?
The gameplay varies as much as the stories, and we wanted to complement each story by giving a different visual style and gameplay experience. We have a mix of stealth, horror, puzzles, action, adventure, and sci-fi.
There are three storylines. Can you talk a bit about each and what players can expect?
Although we have three stories, they take place in the same world and have an overarching storyline tying them together. Much like the original Twilight Zone, our stories have a serious message at their heart: bullying, racism, government, war, society, loss, grief, and xenophobia. In the same vein as the original, we throw you a curve ball when you think you’ve got it all figured out.
In your opinion, What is the most frightening or unsettling story in The Twilight Zone VR, and why?
We wanted the horror to have an edge rather than just a series of jump scares (although we have a couple of those in there, too!). In my opinion, a good horror experience combines a mix of emotions and misdirections. We took inspiration from the movies Don’t Look Now, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, In the Mouth of Madness, Vivarium, and Twilight Zone the Movie. There are genuinely horrific elements throughout the game but delivered in a very different way. Ultimately TheTwilight Zone has been about getting one’s just deserts and those gut-punch moments. But there’s nothing wrong with a few spine chillers along the way! You Wanna See Something Really Scary?
For more information visit the official Twilight Zone VR website, players can also sign up for the closed beta via the game’s Discord server, and purchase for Meta Quest.
*Sponsored post.
