1. WIP Mission Statement

The aim of Mind Control is to showcase the production team’s skills to game industry professionals. Although not likely to be “casual” gamers, the target audience is at best time poor and focused on a quick assessment of the game. Therefore the design is purposefully lean and immediately playable without investment in deep back-story or complex game interface and controls. Another important consideration is the convenience of installing and trying out a single player feature rather than a multiplayer game.
For this reason game play is linear and designed for a single player.


The player controls Keith, a compulsive pyrokinetic, who works in a state of the art ammunitions factory. Along with his co-workers, Keith goes though the motions as an unseen “Boss” barks orders and happy worker maxims from loudspeakers. Keith finally snaps when his “Boss” makes a crack about his pin head over the loudspeaker. Stressful situations just like this make Keith angry and that’s when he turns into an uncontrollable pyro. Enough is enough.

Game play begins when Keith decides to hand in his resignation. Keith’s head starts expanding and the player sees fizzing jets of flame coming out of his ears. He has to make his way across the hazardous factory floor to meet the “Boss” face to face and give him a piece of his mind – as long as his head doesn’t explode first..

Keith has a pyrokinetic power that increases in proportion to his stress levels. This power allows him to ignite objects with his mind. Much like a nervous stutter this power becomes a compulsion when he is stressed. The player can see Keith’s stress levels rising by the size and colour of his head. At best, stress increases the size and speed of explosions and at worse consumes Keith in an almighty bang.


Keith relieves his stress by discharging pyrokinetic energy into the objects and people around him. He has to choose what to ignite with his power while trying to avoid setting himself or his work mates on fire. Stress is reduced immediately when Keith blows something up, but wiping out a pack of co-workers in the explosion would naturally send his stress levels shooting back up. Also, if left standing stress levels increase until he eventually explodes. Keith has no choice. He has to blow stuff up and keep moving toward the exit.

The player experiences mounting panic, mirrored in the chaos around Keith as they try to find the path of least destruction, avoiding co-workers and large stockpiles of TNT. At the same time funny dialogue from loudspeakers and co-workers along side toon-style death scenes help to create a dark humor.


Sound and light will play an important part in conveying a sense of cabin fever. At the beginning of a level, when Keith’s stress levels are low but slowly building, all you hear is abuse from the loudspeakers and general factory sounds. After the first inevitable explosion, nearby lights are blown and semi-darkness descends. Disorientating emergency lighting flashes on and each additional explosion leads to more colour and noise, including screams, sirens, flashing alarms, spot fires etc. By the time Keith gets to the exit, all hell has broken loose with flashing red and yellow lights, screaming bodies, malfunctioning machines and an irate employer on the loudspeaker.

Mind Control is an entertaining toon-style 3^rd Person game involving platform style challenges with a fast and feverish pace, ludicrous gags and manic humor. The game is a parody of the worker/boss relationship.