Physical play · Chinese horror · Cooperative experience

Chú Mó 除魔

The Exorcist Exams

Observe the room. Identify its curses. Work together to defeat the demon.

My role: Game Designer / Game Engineer
Team: 15 people
Project development: Dec 2022 — Apr 2024
Format: Alternative controllers + Escape room

2023 IndieCade · Live Action Award ↗2024 alt.ctrl.GDC · Audience Award ↗

The experience

A cooperative Chinese-horror escape room.

Players become entry-level exorcism students. They observe environmental clues, identify curses, and use physical ritual tools to reverse them together.

Chinese horror
Cooperative play
Room-scale projections
Physical controllers

The Chú Mó room with demon projection, ritual furnishings, and physical stations

Gameplay video

See the experience in action.

Watch the trailer on YouTube ↗

Original 39-second Chu Mo trailer. Players identify curses and cooperate through the shared database and physical ritual stations. The case study below describes the mechanics and design decisions shown in the capture.

01 / My contribution · Experience flow

From students to exorcists.

I designed the core player flow. Guided onboarding leads into a demon encounter, cooperative curse-solving, and a final seal.

Tutorial phase / Enter the role

Onboarding

Team members introduce the setting and the players’ exorcist-student roles.

2 minCalm

A physical fan inside the ritual room, surrounded by projected visuals.

Introduction

Bei Dou guides players through the room and explains how to use each station.

3 minCalm

The demon breaks free

The chained demon escapes its seal. Players face the threat for the first time.

2 minSuspense / Scared

Gameplay phase / Cooperate under pressure

Physical ritual props at the Relic station.

Identify curses

Players search for visual and audio clues, communicate their findings, and look up the curse in the Database.

2 minNervous

Reverse curses

Players perform station minigames using patterns from the Database to undo the curses.

3 minSlightly relieved

Defeat the demon

After enough curses are reversed, the group faces a final showdown and seals the demon by shouting.

3 minProud

Stage durations and moods are taken from the original experience-flow document.

02 / Room & station design

The room becomes the ritual.

Traditional Taoism and Chinese exorcism culture informed a modern, shared physical experience.

Taoist ritual reference — Original inspiration references · Taoism, Chinese exorcism, ritual spaces, and talismans

Chinese exorcism film reference — Original inspiration references · Taoism, Chinese exorcism, ritual spaces, and talismans

Three projector coverage volumes shown in the original room design — Three ceiling-mounted projectors cast reactive VFX around the room.

Database

A shared PC reference provides curse patterns and solutions.

Relic station

Press the correct relics in order to reverse a curse.

Talisman station

Draw the correct talisman to reverse a curse.

Drum station

Play the correct drum pattern to seal a curse.

Ceiling-mounted projector used for room-scale visual effects

Curse visuals projected across the altar room

03 / My contribution · Core gameplay

Observe. Share. Perform.

Environmental cues, a shared Database, and physical station actions connect the players into one cooperative loop.

Players at the shared Database identify curse clues

Observe

Find visual and audio clues around the room.

Identify

Combine observations in the Database to determine the curse.

Coordinate

Share station solutions and remember the required patterns.

Reverse

Perform the pattern at the physical station to undo the curse.

One room. Shared information.

Time constraints create a need to cooperate. Players gather clues from the room and coordinate through the Database before carrying out their station actions.

04 / Independently designed & programmed

Database: knowledge becomes cooperation.

I designed and programmed the Database independently in Unity and C#. It is the players’ tool for identifying curses and finding the patterns needed to reverse them.

01 / Observe & input

Collect the room’s clues.

Original Database search interface with four clue input boxes — Original game interface

Players observe visual and audio cues, then enter the hints into the search interface.

02 / Look up the curse

Check the observations.

Player using the shared Database to look up the curse — The shared Database in the physical room

The Look Up action checks the entered hints. A correct combination leads to the curse’s solutions page.

03 / Choose a station

One solution at a time.

Original Database solution screen with Drum, Talisman, and Relic options — Original solution interface

Players switch between station solutions. Only one station’s solution is visible at once, requiring coordination and memory.

A player drawing a talisman at the physical station — Talisman station · another pattern players carry from the Database

04 / Remember & perform

Bring the pattern back.

Physical Drum station used to perform the remembered rhythm — Drum station

Players remember their solution and input it at their own station. For the Drum station, they reproduce the shown rhythm on the drum-shaped controller.

The constraint creates the teamwork.

Everyone depends on the same reference, but each player needs a different station pattern. They must coordinate who views a solution, retain it, and communicate before returning to their controllers.

05 / Team & production

From hardware prototypes to public play.

The project ran from December 2022 to April 2024 with a 15-person team. My involvement ran from May 2023 to April 2024: I led game design, designed the core experience flow, and implemented gameplay through code.