← Work
Echo Maze
A stealth puzzle where sound is your only sense.
- Context
- Sem V · Game Design Open Elective, NMIMS
- Role · Tools
- To be added
The mechanic
The player navigates a maze they cannot see. Sending out a sound ping briefly reveals nearby walls for one turn, on a limited noise budget — every ping is a trade: more information, more risk. A wandering monster reacts to noise, so pinging carelessly can draw it straight to you.
The design problem
How do you make not seeing the core source of tension, rather than a limitation to design around? The noise budget and the monster’s noise-reactivity both exist to make every ping a real decision instead of a free action.
Key decisions
Noise budget instead of unlimited pinging
Forces prioritization over blind exploration. A ping you can always afford is not a choice.
The monster reacts to noise, not sight
Keeps the whole game inside the sound-based fiction — no separate “detection” system bolted on beside it.
Visuals
- Level diagramPending
- Ping-radius illustrationPending
- Gameplay capturePending