Cloud Chamber
KnapNok Games / Investigate North · PC · 2014
Cloud Chamber is an experimental online mystery game developed by Investigate North and KnapNok Games and released on Steam in 2014. Players explore a 3D database containing fragments of found footage, documents and scientific material, then discuss their interpretations with other players to collectively piece together the story. The game’s central mechanic is not combat or conventional puzzle-solving, but investigation and discussion between players.
I worked on the project across game design, level design, Unity implementation and environment art. I first joined the project during an internship at KnapNok Games and continued contributing to parts of the production afterwards.
Designing a space for investigation
Because Cloud Chamber combined interactive 3D spaces with live-action video, documentary material and an online discussion system, the project involved thinking about how players would navigate information rather than simply navigate physical space. My work included building environments and content in 3ds Max and Unity, alongside level-design and game-design tasks.
Rather than presenting its story in a conventional linear sequence, Cloud Chamber organised its material as a network of interconnected nodes. Players moved through this digital environment, examining pieces of evidence and discussing theories with the wider community.
Working on the project gave me experience with a form of level design where information, narrative and player interpretation were as important as physical navigation.