The Stoevi Curse

A first-person survival horror game about a father trying to save his family from the Torbalan, a bogeyman from Bulgarian folklore.

Developed in Unity for Mac & PC, published on Steam by USC Games

Lead Designer | April 2022 - May 2023

I independently designed & programmed The Stoevi Curse, in collaboration with 4 artists and 2 composers.

To start, I built a 1-week prototype and playtested with my friends.

It was ugly & janky, but enough of my friends liked it that I was encouraged to continue development.

AI Design

I used Behavior Designer to design & implement behavior for 2 enemy types:

  • The Torbalan is a stalker-type enemy a la Alien: Isolation or Resident Evil 2. He detects the player with sight & sound, chases the player, and searches the area intelligently after detecting them.

  • The sheep harass the player by following them around, stealing their tomatoes, and running from them if scared away. They also play a key role in the unique objective of Day 5.

Level Design

I also blocked out the area, with the environment changing on Days 3, 4, & 5.

Like many other survival horror games, I wanted the player to be able to remember the area and use their knowledge of the map to outmaneuver the Torbalan.

The Stoevi Curse started as a project for my Writing for Games class in spring 2022.

It’s a story inspired by traditional Bulgarian folklore. Here’s my 3-page beat-by-beat breakdown (click for PDF)
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