Killer in the Woods: An Interactive Murder Mystery
If you come down to the woods today, you better not go alone…
Outline
Killer in the Woods is an interactive murder mystery. The 360 camera positions the audience through the eyes of the police investigator on the scene of the crime. Throughout the game the viewers will have control over the direction they want to go giving them free roam of the virtual world. At the beginning of the experience, you are presented with an audio tape from the serial killer himself, which provides exposition by setting the scene and talking about clues that are hidden around the forest trail. It is then the viewers job to locate these clues and catch the killer.
Narrative
An innocent civilian has recently been added to the large list of victims of a notorious serial killer. First on the scene is detective inspector D.Miles who has a personal vendetta with the killer, after he murdered his entire family. When approaching the crime scene, he notices a cassette tape lying in amongst the leaves. The tape contains a chilling message from the serial killer, who claims he has hidden clues around the scene of murder. It is at this point that the detective realises that he is part of the serial killer’s latest game.
Interactive Elements
The prototype contains many interactive elements that are used to help the user move through the space. Below I have listed the icons that the players are likely to come across.
With the experience being an interactive murder mystery we wanted to provide our users with as much free roam as possible to provoke decision making. As you can see in the map above we have created two separate pathways which lead to different locations in the virtual world.
The Prototype
The prototype is available from this link: https://dindinzcafe.co.uk/InTheWoods/