I want this game to be shit-your-pants terrifying and incredibly funny... at the exact same time. It's something most people struggle greatly to pull off, but inserting comedy into things is kind of my greatest strength.

It was initially going to be pretty much entirely horror, with the juxtaposition and bizarreness likely adding some humor, but mostly just adding to the surreal and overwhelming fear. As I kept planning, I (as usual) started writing things that would come across more as funny than scary without even realizing it. At one point, my idea turned to having the floors be scary, and the boss fights be funny and action-y. Eventually, I gave in, and now every part of it is going to be both at the same time. You might be staring death in the eyes, but your character could make a funny quip about the situation right before the jumpscare and unsettling death screen, leaving your brain unsure whether it should laugh, scream, or do some sort of unholy combination of both.

Gumball himself leans into this quite a bit. The concept itself is laughable. He's a wonky Kirby bootleg with no arms and a variety of goofy, haphazard facial expressions. He doesn't even animate, he just slides around like a goober, and you just have to not be constantly running to keep him away. In practice, he's gonna be a nightmare. In a game where running away from things is generally the difference between surviving and restarting, having to stop for like 10 seconds every so often to avoid a foe ever-so-slightly faster than your top speed is paranoia of the highest caliber. Keeping him in check so that you don't end up alerting him in the middle of a dire situation, like running from some Hopps in a tight hallway, or evading a Shadow Clone in an area that's particularly nasty with your character's clone's behavior, is something that's always at the back of your mind, keeping you on your toes. And yet, he's still just an unanimated goofball thing. Scary music and a dangerous game function can make virtually anything freak you the fuck out.

Few games actually do this right. The only one I can really think of is Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion. Baldi's Basics gets kind of close, but the horror and comedy generally stop to let each other do their thing, rather than having the game dual-wield them. Spooky's keeps an aura of terror over every humorous part, and nearly every scary part has some sort of amusing moment thrown in. Funny posters, Spooky's monologues, the fake ending before the final boss, every time Specimen 1 shows up, Spooky's careless administration being mentioned in the otherwise tense lab records, the cruel yet ironic fates of the comical previous victims of the mansion. Even subtle stuff, like the design of the CAT-DOS machine, the arcade room with silly re-textured arcade games out of nowhere, the FNaF parody room, and the "map" of the mansion that looks more like Tetris than an actual tool make for a chuckle at least once. All of these are overlaid over the horror, creating a unique and bizarre atmosphere that many people who play the game fall in love with. I haven't seen much footage of them, but as far as I can tell, those elements are mostly toned down for Karamari Hospital and The Doll House, which is why I don't have as much interest in watching footage of them. They're scary, sure, but I'm here for the uniqueness of the mood the rest of the game provides.

So I'm making an experience that isn't predictable ever. More duders than I can count have random chance to show up on floors, entertaining spins on existing concepts litter everything, many of the bosses are even very light-hearted and exciting rather than scary (because most horror game bosses that are actually scary suck ass. And they're never also funny.). Being overwhelmed, confused and on edge mixes with a unique brand of humor ranging from slapstick, camp, subtle puns and absurdist stuff to simply witty quips, goofy background details and unexpected interactions between very different duders.

I hope that this makes you even more excited for the game, and entices you to either join the team or spread the word to those who would. Thank you for reading!