Face the Fake
3D Combat Game – Gameplay & Character Design
Game Concept
Face the Fake is a 3D combat game built around the idea of confronting toxic behavior and understanding its negative influence.
The player controls a wolf-like protagonist who must defeat all enemies within a limited amount of time while avoiding complete corruption.
The enemies represent bullies and toxic behaviors, portrayed through fantastical creatures inspired by animals and imaginary beings.
My Role
Game Designer | Character & Enemy Designer | Narrative Designer
- Designed the protagonist and enemy gameplay.
- Designed character movement and attacks.
- Designed enemy health and combat behaviors.
- Designed the different enemy archetypes.
- Created the corruption mechanic.
- Worked on the game's narrative concept.
- Designed the relationship between the characters and the game's theme.
The project was developed by a team of four people using Unity.
Core Gameplay
The player must defeat every enemy in the arena before the time runs out, while also managing the risk of becoming corrupted.
The protagonist can move around the environment and attack enemies using his claws.
The main challenge comes from balancing aggression and survival: defeating enemies quickly is important, but taking too many hits has serious consequences.
The Corruption System
The protagonist could withstand up to five enemy attacks before becoming completely corrupted and losing the game.
However, corruption was designed to feel deceptively rewarding. Every time the player was hit, the protagonist gained a visual characteristic associated with the enemy that attacked him.
For example, being attacked by the werewolf-type enemy caused the protagonist's hands to transform into wolf-like claws.
This created a risk-reward relationship: being attacked could make the protagonist appear stronger or gain new characteristics, but continuing to receive damage would ultimately lead to defeat.
Enemy Design
The enemies represented bullying and toxic behavior through fantastical creatures.
Each enemy was designed with a different combat role, creating different priorities for the player during an encounter.
Cat
A fast but fragile enemy. It could be defeated with a single hit.
Bear
A slow but durable enemy that required three hits to defeat.
Rabbit
A ranged enemy that attacked by throwing magical carrots. It could be defeated with a single hit.
Unicorn
A flying enemy capable of attacking with magical lightning. It required three hits to defeat.
Combat Design
The combat system was designed around a simple set of interactions: movement, evasion, and close-range attacks using the protagonist's claws.
The different enemy types created distinct combat situations. Fast enemies required quick reactions, durable enemies demanded more attacks, while ranged and flying enemies forced the player to pay attention to attacks coming from different distances and directions.
The limited time available for each encounter encouraged the player to actively engage with the enemies rather than simply avoiding them.
Level Design
The prototype featured a single arena based on a child's bedroom.
The limited environment was designed to support the combat-focused gameplay while giving the player enough space to move around and confront different enemy types.
The arena structure also reinforced the idea of being trapped inside a confined environment while dealing with the threats surrounding the protagonist.
Narrative & Theme
The central theme of Face the Fake is the idea of confronting toxic people and behaviors instead of allowing them to influence who you become.
The enemies were presented as fantastical creatures, but their role represented bullies and toxic attitudes.
The corruption mechanic reinforced this idea by making prolonged exposure to these enemies gradually change the protagonist.
Why "Face the Fake"?
The title represents the idea that, like bullying and toxic behavior, these influences need to be confronted and understood rather than accepted.
The player's objective is therefore not only to defeat the enemies, but also to avoid becoming like them.
Design Challenge
One of the biggest design challenges was communicating that corruption was harmful even though it could initially feel like a reward.
Every time the protagonist was attacked, he gained a visual characteristic from the enemy. This could create the impression that the player was becoming more powerful.
However, the player had to understand that these changes were actually bringing them closer to losing the game.
This mechanic was intended to connect the gameplay system directly to the game's message about the negative effects of prolonged exposure to toxic behavior.
Game Tutorial
Before starting the game, players received a tutorial message explaining the basic gameplay mechanics and objectives.
The tutorial introduced the player to the basic rules before entering the combat experience.
Playtesting
The game was tested by the development team and people close to the team.
These playtests were used to evaluate the basic combat interactions, enemy behaviors, and overall gameplay experience.
What I Would Improve Today
If I were revisiting Face the Fake today, I would focus on making the gameplay more dynamic.
The original prototype focused primarily on combat within a single arena. I would expand the gameplay with additional mechanics, environmental interactions, and more varied combat situations.
I would also explore additional ways for the player's corruption state to affect gameplay, making each encounter more strategically interesting.
Key Takeaway
Face the Fake was an important experiment in connecting gameplay mechanics with narrative themes.
The corruption system demonstrated how a gameplay mechanic can communicate a message without relying entirely on dialogue or exposition.
The project also gave me experience designing multiple enemy archetypes, balancing their strengths and weaknesses, and creating character mechanics around a central gameplay concept.