Voxel Chronicles: Kai′s Nightmare

At Ashara Studios , the creation of an IP around a series of video games was an opportunity for both economic and professional growth. Exorcist, a mobile horror game, became the starting point for what is now known as the Exorcist saga.

??? Game Jams

Exorcist Reborn was born in a game jam with a portal theme for The Sandbox metaverse. This event marked the beginning of the journey to take Exorcist from 2D to 3D, exploring a new artistic line and horror elements.

Then with the aim of taking the first steps in creating a series of video games with the theme of exorcism, the Ashara Studios team participated in a new Backrooms game jam organized by The Sandbox Game. The project was led by Game Maker developer Jose Payares and 3D artist Sebastian Martini , under the direction of Andrés Rodríguez .

?? Kai's Nightmare Design

For this Backrooms game jam, the art focused on spectrofibia and claustrophobia, using a deep color palette with some bright tones to guide the player in the gameplay. 3D creature assets previously created for an NFT collection related to the Exorcist saga were integrated.

The level design was inspired by the building blocks of the Backrooms, such as dark rooms, narrow and labyrinthine corridors, light sources that guide the player, and puzzles to solve the mysteries of the experience.

The story was set in a feverish nightmare lived by the hero named Kai, who descends from a family of exorcists who use magical books, called grimoires, to seal creatures from Planes beyond the earthly. All this was graphed in a base timeline for the entire saga.

??Later Iterations

The Sandbox Game published all the game jam experiences in its metaverse, which led Ashara Studios to make iterations on the Kai's Nightmare experience to improve the impact on players. Creatures used in Exorcist Reborn were added to make a better connection between games and the narrative was modified to emphasize that Kai's story and memories are linked to a real mental syndrome such as dementia. This mental state was associated in the video game with a spell created by the main character's rival to make more sense of the nightmare Kai was living.

With these changes, a better connection between both video games was achieved and the experience was published on The Sandbox page using the Land granted in its metaverse. It is worth noting that visual pieces and a written narrative were created that responded to the aesthetics of the game to create a complete immersion for the player before the gameplay itself.

?? The Exorcist's Path

After the game jam experiences and the production of Kai's Nightmare, the studio consolidated Exorcist as an important IP for the organization, especially since at that time they had two other experiences in development: Exorcist Reborn and Cthulhu's Nightmare, the latter about Kai's father in his adventure to prevent the awakening of Cthulhu.

?? The Lore

The narrative was enriched with elements from various cultures and artists, with a strong support on the myths of H.P. Lovecraft, Castlevania and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

??The Future of the IP

Ashara Studios has plans to create more experiences related to the Exorcist IP, exploring different formats for the enjoyment of the players. The Bamone family has a long way to go in the fight against the forces of other Planes.

Written by Isnel Ramírez Silva

Edited by Andrea Liliana Ramírez Silva