Rushing Pulse
Date: Oct, 2024 / Engine: Unity / Solo Project
Rushing Pulse is a 2D platformer that uses a strategic combination of mechanics to mimic the feeling of anxiety. Players navigate challenging levels as a character grappling with long-term anxiety, uncovering their inner strength through each trial.
Engine: Unity
Key Features:
Atmospheric platformer gameplay.
Unique levels reflecting different aspects of anxiety.
Philosophical inspirations shaping mechanics and story.
Story Background
A young protagonist, burdened by anxiety, dreams of escaping to a perfect utopia. Falling into a fairytale world, she meets a guide who promises her rebirth if she overcomes trials—manifestations of her inner struggles.
Along the way, she realizes the guide is her subconscious, embodying her resilience and wisdom. Embracing her fears and growth, she chooses to return to reality, finding strength in life’s complexities.
Anxiety is a common affliction of our times. As someone who has long struggled with frequent anxiety and even panic attacks, I didn’t take it seriously until I realized how profoundly it was affecting me—manifesting as physical symptoms tied to my mental state.
Through this game, I aim to simulate the experience of anxiety, helping players understand its symptoms and impact. Drawing inspiration from Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Chinese philosophies like Confucianism and Taoism, the game also explores solutions, encouraging players to discover their inner strength to confront and overcome anxiety.
Inspirations
Why This Game
Key Features
Countdown Mechanic
Linear Progression
Reduced Death Penalty
Moderate to High Skill Requirement
A countdown timer adds urgency and pressure, driving the fast-paced and anxiety-inducing gameplay.
Players follow a fixed, forward-moving path, emphasizing continuous progression without backtracking.
Failure comes with minimal consequences, encouraging players to retry and experiment without losing momentum.
The game demands precise controls and strategic execution, creating a satisfying challenge for players while amplifying the sense of anxiety through high-stakes gameplay.
Main Characters
Disclaimer: The character illustrations shown here are generated using DALL·E, based on my original pixel designs.
The Protagonist (Player Character)
The Protagonist is an ordinary individual overwhelmed by anxiety and longing for a life without pain.
Dragged into a surreal fantasy world, The Protagonist is offered a chance to reach an ideal world—if they can overcome a series of trials. Through this journey, The Protagonist faces their deepest fears and uncovers the inner strength needed to reclaim their life.
The Guider (Non Player Character)
The Guider is a cryptic and enigmatic presence, offering wisdom and direction throughout the trials.
Calm yet mysterious, The Guider’s guidance feels both reassuring and unsettling. Ultimately, it is revealed that The Guider is a manifestation of The Protagonist’s subconscious, embodying their inner resilience and the power to confront their fears.
Core Mechanics
The game features a thoughtfully crafted set of player abilities combined with interactive contraptions, creating a dynamic system that encourages players to skillfully blend their abilities and utilize the contraptions to overcome challenges and progress through levels.
Player Abilities
Walk
Hold AD to Walk
Contraptions
Sludge
Slows down the player’s movement when stepped on, requiring careful navigation to maintain momentum.
Glass Wall
Blocks the player’s path but can be shattered using the dash ability.
Jump
Press SPACE to Jump
When designing the skillset and contraptions, two key considerations were prioritized:
Maintaining a Fast Pace: All mechanics are designed to support a quick, fluid gameplay experience. The game rewards players with faster pacing as they master their abilities. Mechanics are intentionally streamlined to avoid requiring excessive time for problem-solving, ensuring the game’s momentum remains uninterrupted.
Forward Progression: Every mechanic is crafted to guide players forward. The design eliminates the need for backtracking, keeping the gameplay focused and aligned with the forward-moving narrative and level design.
Dash
Press K to Dash
Flashing Platform
Alternates between appearing and disappearing, challenging players to time their movements precisely.
Spike
Instantly kills the player upon contact, adding a high-stakes element to navigation.
Cloudsey
Generates a rainbow wind that propels the player while gliding, creating opportunities for extended air movement.
Glide
While Airborne, Hold SPACE to Glide.
Moth
Dangerous on contact, but can be eliminated by returning treasure to the treasure box.
Treasure Box
Players can collect or return treasures here, which may unlock progression or neutralize threats like the Moth.
Level Design
Core Principle:
The level design follows a smooth difficulty curve to ensure an engaging and rewarding player experience. The game consists of four levels, each featuring a unique theme and progressively introducing new mechanics and challenges.
Each level has 3 difficulty stages:
Learning Stage: Introduces new abilities in a safe environment for practice.
Practicing Stage: Features contraptions that encourage creative use and mastery of skills.
Evaluation Stage: Challenges players with difficult sequences to evaluate their proficiency.
Progression Across Levels:
Levels build upon each other, requiring players to integrate previously learned skills with new abilities, ensuring a sense of growth and accomplishment.
Level Design Blueprint
Narrative Design
The game explores four sources of anxiety through immersive trials, offering philosophical insights to overcome them.
Level 1: Escape Mediocrity
Theme: The fear of a mundane life.
The protagonist feels trapped by the monotony of daily routines and haunted by unfulfilled childhood dreams of becoming extraordinary. They wonder: if they are destined to be ordinary, what is the meaning of life?
Philosophy Insight: Nietzsche’s Self-Overcoming
Nietzsche’s philosophy emphasizes the concept of the “Übermensch” (Superman), advocating for individuals to face life’s challenges with courage and use their willpower to transcend mediocrity.
The player is encouraged to embrace personal growth and creativity, creating their own destiny rather than resigning to external limitations.
Level 2: Fog of Uncertainty
Theme: The anxiety of making the “right” choices in life.
Life feels like a precarious tightrope, where every step could lead to failure. The pressure to follow societal expectations creates a constant fear of falling short.
Philosophy Insight: Stoicism – Control Your Inner World, Accept the External
Stoicism teaches the “dichotomy of control,” emphasizing the distinction between what we can control (our emotions and actions) and what we cannot (external events).
By focusing on inner virtues like wisdom and courage, players can learn to find peace, even amidst uncertainty. This mindset empowers them to face challenges without being consumed by the fear of failure.
Level 3: Relentless Competition
Theme: The endless race of competition.
In a world obsessed with productivity and success, the protagonist feels trapped in a perpetual contest for time and opportunity, questioning whether it will ever end or if they will lose themselves in the process.
Philosophy Insight: Eastern Confucianism – Detach from the Race, Focus on Inner Goals
Competition is inevitable, but one’s value should not be tied to external comparisons. Instead of striving to outrun everyone else, players are encouraged to focus on their unique path and define their own success.
By embracing self-awareness and personal goals, they can break free from the relentless chase and move forward with clarity and purpose.
Level 4: Insatiable Desires
Theme: The burden of endless wants.
The protagonist realizes that fulfilling one desire only leads to another, creating an unending cycle of longing. This accumulation of material and emotional cravings weighs down their soul, transforming them into someone controlled by their possessions.
Philosophy Insight: Buddhism – Letting Go of Attachment
Buddhism teaches that suffering stems from attachment and desire. By letting go of the endless pursuit of external validation and focusing on inner growth, individuals can achieve peace and contentment.
The game encourages players to recognize the futility of insatiable desires and embrace simplicity, finding fulfillment in self-awareness and the present moment.
Final View
Level 1
Escape Mediocrity
SludgeGlass Wall"Reality is a flux, an endless becoming that is beyond words and language—all language is metaphor, useful to us but ultimately detached from reality."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
The first trial begins in a modern, rain-soaked city. The streets are slick with sludge, the air damp and heavy, and towering walls block the way at every turn.
This city is a reflection of The Protagonist’s repetitive routine in reality—a monotonous existence where each day feels the same, each obstacle insurmountable.
Just when the path seems hopeless, The Guider intervenes, bestowing a powerful ability: Dash. This newfound power allows The Protagonist to surge forward with determination, shattering walls and crossing gaps that once seemed impossible.
The Dash ability becomes a metaphor for breaking free from stagnation and taking decisive action to overcome life’s challenges. With this ability, The Protagonist begins to see glimmers of hope in the distance, propelling them further into the unknown.
Waking up from a nightmare, The Protagonist found theirselves in a mysterious world ... After a familiar panic attack streaks, they met The Guider, who told them passing the trail, they can find a new world.
WalkJump
DashLevel 2
Fog of Uncertainty
Flashing PlatformSpike"Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security."
-- John Allen Paulos
This surreal setting reflects The Protagonist’s fear of uncertainty—anxiety over unstable ground and the unknown.
The world above the clouds is constantly shifting. Pathways appear and disappear without warning, and strange, floating objects obstruct the way.
Just as despair sets in, The Guider appears, offering the ability to Glide: to move forward, they must embrace the act of falling—not as failure, but to learn control.
Emerging from the rain-drenched city, The Protagonist appears high up in the sky, walking on narrow, precarious platforms made of shifting clouds and fragmented pathways.
GlideLevel 3
Relentless Competition
Cloudsey"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."
-- Lao Tzu
Twisted paths stretch endlessly into the horizon, and faceless competitors relentlessly chase, their presence a constant reminder of pressure and comparison. Above, giant, unblinking eyes hover, their gaze unyielding, amplifying the suffocating sense of judgment.
But as despair sets in, The Guider appears, offering insight: life is not about winning but finding your own path. The Guider introduces Cloudsey, a whimsical companion that generates rainbows, lifting the Protagonist high above the chaos.
With this newfound ability, the Protagonist learns to rise beyond the competition, focusing on their own journey instead of the endless race.
The Protagonist steps into a surreal world. Here, every step feels like part of an endless, unwinnable race.
Level 4
Insatiable Desires
Key of Wistful Wonder
Phoenix Feather"He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have."
— Socrates
The Guider explains that the moths are manifestations of the Protagonist’s unchecked desires. Along the journey, they have collected treasures—symbols of ambition and want. But now, these treasures weigh them down, attracting the moths and making progress impossible.
Disclaimer: The treasure illustrations shown here are generated using DALL·E.
To move forward, the Protagonist must let go. Returning each treasure dissolves a portion of the moth swarm, clearing the way. With every release, the castle becomes less oppressive, revealing its true beauty and simplicity.
The Guider imparts a final lesson: Constant anxiety stems from insatiable desire. Only by letting go can we find true fulfillment.
Dreamwhisper Butterfly
Starlit CrownThe Protagonist arrives at a grand, glittering castle, its golden halls radiating opulence. But the beauty is marred by an infestation of grotesque moths, swarming the space and blocking the path forward.
Final Stage
After passing every trial, the Protagonist reaches the door to the ideal realm—a world without pain. Here, they discover the Guider is their subconscious, and the powers they’ve gained reflect their own inner strength. Anxiety, once seen as a burden, is revealed as the drive to grow and improve.
Now, the Protagonist faces the final choice: step into the ideal realm or return to reality, embracing both its struggles and joys. The decision is yours.