No Body
is left but yourself.
“No Body” is a game made in a little over a month. It was created as a pet project for me, something unapologetically selfish and weird. As you can probably tell, it takes aesthetic inspiration from old Playstation 1 titles, with an artificially lowered resolution and crispy textures. Though the experience is purposefully made vague and confusing, it is made with the intention of being a representation of mind clutter, doubt in someone who does not conform to convention. It is about not feeling at home or happy in your own skin. More specifically, someone who is gender nonconforming, but again the purpose is left nebulous for the player.
The player wanders through dimly lit halls inspired by those commonly described as liminal spaces. They are transitionary, unsure, and unnerving. Various demons wander through this space between worlds, each with slightly unique behavioral patterns — stalking, shy, meandering, straight-laced, erratic, and so on. It’s simpler than it sounds.
Three mirrors are located throughout the entire map. Hiding inside of one restores health, but hiding for too long damages the player further. They also serve as a hub for the player to check on the state of their health by looking into their reflection. Interacting with the mirrors is supposed to represent taking on the form others want you to have, for self preservation.
Unlike most horror games with scary monsters that try to kill you, “No Body” will ask you to do the opposite.
“Kill the demons. Be brave.”
Running into a monster initiates a turn-based battle (called “Confronting”). The player is presented with several options on how to act, and the battle carries on in a similar fashion to the fights you see in Pokemon.
On an enemy’s turn, it will “chatter” as it performs its actions, shown as wiggling, annoying bursts that hinder the player from concentrating.
“No Body” truly was a passion project. I felt like i really needed to push myself as a game developer. Though this game is my baby, that doesn’t mean I didn’t get help from some extremely talented friends.
The audio was provided by Ále Acevedo and Remi Cooper. Much of the narrative is by Ash Poprik.
I think I’ll still work on this game in the future. I’m planning on making the battle UI more intuitive mostly, for starters.
