News

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Q&A: How composer Petri Alanko created the otherworldly score for Control
We recently caught up with BAFTA-nominated composer, musician, and producer Petri Alanko to learn more about his anomalous approach to audio on Control.
Oct. 5, 2019
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Control freak: Inside the narrative design of Remedy's least linear game
In an effort to better understand the making of the game's striking narrative, Gamasutra chats with Remedy narrative designer Brooke Maggs about her work crafting Control's eerie setting.
Sept. 18, 2019
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Designing for tough choices in cosmic horror game The Horns
We speak with Dene Carter, formerly creative director on the Fable series, about his latest indie game The Horns-- a cosmic horror game about choice and survival.
March 1, 2019
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Graveyard Keeper: How the graphics effects are made
The summary of tips and tricks used in Graveyard Keeper to make different graphical effects and apply them on a pixel art picture.
Oct. 23, 2018
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Dev Q&A: How Bloober Team created 'hidden horror' in Observer
Observer is a cyberpunk horror game from Polish studio Bloober Team. They stress that it isn't a survival horror experience--they prefer to call it "hidden horror" or "catharsis 2.0."
Nov. 2, 2017
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The Perfect Organism: The AI of Alien: Isolation
The xenomorph AI in Alien: Isolation set the benchmark for antagonists in horror games. I take a look at the AI techniques used and the design choices made to maintain the terror throughout the campaign experience.
Oct. 31, 2017
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The art of the chase: Level design and player orientation in Outlast 2
Outlast 2 comes alive when players are being chased through the dark game world. “It has to feel chaotic, yet intuitive. When you make it too obvious, some players start to feel they’re on a track.”
May 18, 2017
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Crafting the deliberately frustrating interfaces of Stories Untold
"In any other game, this would just be bad UI/UX. But here, it is essential. The machines' limitations and clunkiness become an antagonist of sorts. Each device is method acting, permanently in character."
April 10, 2017
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7 terrifying VR horror games that every developer should study
VR horror games are a new frontier in fear. Gamasutra reached out to several pioneers at the forefront of this new form to ask what lessons they've learned about how to cause terror in virtual reality.
Oct. 31, 2016
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Terrifying players with unstable level design in Layers of Fear
"It all boils down to psychology. We get scared in claustrophobic spaces, and we are terrified when we know something is about to happen but we can’t pinpoint what it will be."
Feb. 25, 2016
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The tricky design problem of Soma's memorable monsters
Mechanical and strict, or random and fuzzy? Frictional Games creative director Thomas Grip shares his approach to creating the unique monsters of recent existential nightmare, Soma.
Oct. 27, 2015
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How SOMA creates existential dread
'SOMA wasn't initially meant to be a horror game. It simply came to be horrifying due to the subject matter it was exploring.'
Oct. 20, 2015