How Do Danish Playdead Producers Create And Sustain Suspense And Psychological Threat?

This essay explores the way that practitioners have tried to change the way their audience relates to their environment, focusing on the techniques used by the company PLAYDEAD through its two games ‘Inside’ and ‘Limbo’. The company PLAYDEAD, founded bout Danish Producers Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti, have successfully drawn in players through their illustrated ery design and soundtrack of the game. The visuals reference common periods throughout history of film and the storyline has many links to childhood fear to which many of the audience can empathise with. The visuals in the game play a huge part in keeping the suspense with an almost constant darkness. Along with the

The main game director and creator (Arnt Jensen) took his previous of the scenes of forest from his childhood as inspiration for the game environment, showing that the environment is realistic to the memories of someone. The audience can relate to the basic scenes without it becoming foreign due to the lack of minor details and therefore giving a wide range of personal experiences of a forest. If the game had lots of details in the background then the viewer could struggle to relate the environment to their own experiences thus making the game less personal and the suspense of the game would be lost. The game would feel similar to a ‘shooting game’ where most of the audience haven’t used a gun before and wouldn’t be as emotionally or physiologically invested to the result of their actions. By using fewer details and block shapes it allows the players brain to fill in the blanks with their own personal memories of the environment making it more relatable in which to emotionally invest the player.

Although this quote is from a film it is appropriate as the style of video game is similar to that of an illustrated film which has previously been depicted. The black and white tone running throughout is based upon the film Noir cinematic term where the films were usually cynical and obtaintain suspense for the viewer throughout, much like the style in ‘Limbo’. From the 1920s to the 1950s the crime fiction emerged in the black and white style showing inspiration from the German Expressionist cinematography. The German expressionism came along with links from horror films and the effects of World War 1 due to the isolation which German felt in this period. This all links to why the style of the game and its key features such as; solo character, black and white and horror in the deaths of the character suit to the styles of these film movements. To which asks many questions, if the game is art work itself? The game would be classified into a sympathy game as many of the players would increasingly invest in the young boy pitying him and the trauma he has been facing. The protagonist in ‘Limbo’ is facing an almost constant stressful situation by the puzzles and traps he has to take usually ending in his death, with the game environment being very influential to the player it causes the character to become empathised.

Due to the game majority dark and with the solo character aspect of a young boy it links to the common knowledge of children having a fear of the dark. Nyctophobia, like many fears is likely to have been formed from previous fearful experiences usually from childhood. Images are often formed of the terrifying things that await them in the dark and as such movies would play a part in creating the imagination of the terrifying situations. The lack of colour in the game and the the unknown outcomes of gameplay would only keep suspense and bring back childhood fear if only to a small degree as the game isnt real life, but the child in the game brings forth the understanding of what he could be feeling. The player empathises with what the character could be feeling by the player projecting their understanding of the emotions they have felt in a similar situation.