"Malvorn" is a horror adventure where Tyler and his friends get trapped by an ancient, cursed board game. In the 80s, the house's previous owners, played it, and tragically died. The police discovered their bodies, and the game was hidden away in the basement, forgotten.
Years later, Tyler moves into this house with the help of his friends, unknowingly awakening the deadly game. Upon summoning the spirit by touching the skull together and calling its name as instructed, the group falls unconscious, their minds transported to another dimension, a twisted version of the house, where the previous family still resides. If they lose the game, their bodies in the real world will become deceased.
The majority of story details will unravel during the gameplay, through cutscenes and notes.
The Board Game
How it is played:
As a method of entertainment in ancient times, this simple board game was made using wooden pieces, stones, and knucklebones.
Knucklebones
Are the equivalent of dice in modern board games. They decide the movement.
With only 2 possible outcomes:
1- landing flat: counts as 1.
2- landing on the side: counts as 2.
The total of all bones is the amount of tiles moved.
Throughout the game, if a player gets the lowest possible outcome, they will be given an extra bone. If they get the highest possible outcome they will lose a bone.
Bones cannot go below 2, nor over 4. If a player has 2 and roll the highest outcome, they will not lose any bones. If they have 3 and roll the lowest outcome, they will only gain a bone for the turn after, then go back to 3.
Tiles
There are 3 types of tiles:
1- Normal tiles: for movement only.
2- Red tiles: deal damage to the player.
3- Blue tiles: overcoming a physical challenge is required to continue.
As the board game is possessed by a demonic spirit, the challenges for the blue tiles are manipulated by its powers. Adding an element that merges a board game experience with a horror/puzzle experience.
Stones
There are 2 types of dyed stones:
1- Red stones: Represent a player's health, 5 per player.
2- Blue stones: Represent a currency that players can trade for benefits.
In Malvorn's dimension, the player's health stones are connected to their real health. Losing all 5 stones means the death of that player. Therefore health stones are not only lost by standing on red tiles, they are also lost by taking damage during the blue tile challenges.
Once a player dies the team loses a life out of a set number of lives represented as candles.
The blue stones can be traded for a team life, health stones, advancing forward...etc.
Blue stones are acquired after the successful completion of each blue tile. The player who had stood on the tile gets 1, while others get 2 each.
More will be described as the development process progresses.