[REC] The Black End is a 3D psychological horror game. You play as a fame-seeking YouTuber who ventures alone into the wilderness to explore a place no one else dares to go: The Black End. Armed only with your phone, you aim to record every moment. But as the selfie light flickers, you start to feel like something is pulling you in.

Below is a draft trailer for the game, which is slightly less representative than the final in-game experience.

Psychological horror is a genre my teammates and I care deeply about. Before this project, we had already created two horror games together. [REC] The Black End was my first time developing in Unreal Engine.

Given the tight schedule and the need to ramp up on a new engine, we intentionally kept the game systems simple. This let us focus on atmosphere, pacing, and player experience without stretching the technical scope.

Many horror games limit player abilities to amplify vulnerability and tension. With psychological horror as our experience goal, we chose to exclude combat entirely. Progression relies on stealth and escape, pushing players to survive by avoiding threats rather than confronting them.

The project was inspired by the 2018 Korean film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. In the film, a group of young people enter an abandoned psychiatric hospital to livestream a reality show. What begins as a staged performance gradually unravels, as the boundary between scripted scares and real terror collapses on camera.

In many horror games, the camera plays a central role—Fatal Frame is a classic example. These titles use unstable, camera-driven perspectives to create spatial pressure and a constant feeling of being watched.

In [REC] The Black End, I identified self-recording as the game’s defining feature. Rather than using the camera as a passive viewpoint, we built core systems around filming oneself and exploring the discomfort that follows.

The game’s core loop is intentionally simple. The mobile phone serves as the central hub for all interactions. Photo-based objectives are delivered directly to the player’s phone, and completing a selfie task with the correct subject unlocks the next objective. But taking photos does more than complete objectives. Each snapshot subtly alters the environment, gradually distorting the world. This progression builds a sense of psychological horror as reality starts to unravel. As the space shifts, self-recording becomes increasingly difficult. New threats and unpredictable events force players to rely on stealth, awareness, and avoidance to move forward.

Unlike Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, which tells its story through a third-person, multi-character perspective, [REC] The Black End is a single-player, first-person horror experience. Players are intentionally isolated from any teammates, removing the sense of shared presence or support. Communication is limited to phone calls. This separation amplifies vulnerability and unease, reinforcing psychological tension through loneliness and uncertainty instead of direct confrontation.

Creating a convincing horror atmosphere was one of the project’s core challenges. Psychological horror depends on tight coordination between level design and audiovisual elements. Spatial layout, sound, lighting, and timing must work together to deliver tension at the right moments. We aligned level progression with key audiovisual cues to guide players through a rhythm of anticipation, unease, and release.

Beyond environmental storytelling, jump scares and chase sequences play a key role in pacing. Once audiovisual cues have heightened player awareness, these moments deliver the strongest spikes in tension. They are most effective because players have already been psychologically primed.

Narratively, we set out to blur the player’s understanding of their situation over time, allowing reality and illusion to overlap. To support this ambiguity, the game blends grounded, realistic elements with surreal moments, creating a shifting sense of trust and perception.

To encourage exploration, the level design features branching paths and layered spaces. These structures invite players to stray from the main route, reinforcing uncertainty while rewarding curiosity and careful navigation.

Without combat, we placed greater emphasis on environmental and narrative storytelling. To support player understanding and progression, we used cutscenes and dialogue as key tools for delivering the story.

4. REFLECTION

---

As mentioned, [REC] The Black End was my first project built in Unreal Engine. Through it, I strengthened my ability to tell stories through environment: learning to use models, lighting, and sound to convey narrative without relying on direct exposition.

A significant part of development at first was spent refining the game’s system design. Removing combat was a difficult choice, but in pursuit of a focused and restrained experience, we simplified the mechanics. This shift allowed atmosphere and psychological tension to take the lead.

That decision also came with tradeoffs. The core loop of world transformation was not fully realized in the final build. I see this as an opportunity for future development and deeper exploration of the game’s central ideas.