2D PLATFORM / LIGHT POLLUTION / SPATIAL DISORIENTATION

Lost in Light

A night-sky navigation game about light pollution and the disorienting experience of moving through an over-lit city.

Try the Game Light Pollution Research

2D PlatformLight PollutionSpatial Disorientation

Try the Game

Promotional video introducing the premise and atmosphere.

Background

Light pollution as play material

The project transforms research on urban night light pollution into a platforming experience. The visual language keeps the city luminous, but frames brightness as something that can confuse perception and navigation.

View research report

Research board: light night pollution intro, Shanghai illumination map, insight cases (Tribute in Light 2004, Hangzhou Bay Bridge 2010), survey ring chart and gameplay direction — Research board — Light Night Pollution / Insight / Game Play

Level Design

Game Start

Opening Animation: Players will experience a first-person view of a bustling urban night scene, get a sense of the birds' spatial disorientation, and ultimately collide with a building.
Newbie Tutorial: Players will encounter a Soul Bird that guides them through learning the basic operations.

Core Mechanics

Player's Control: jump, move left and right, dash
Player's Goal: Steer clear of the lights and make a successful escape from the building.
Light Debuff: When the bird encounters different lighting, it will exhibit various spatial reactions.

Debuff reactions: flip vertically, flip horizontally, cancel dash, UI inversion state display

Extra Rules

Double jump: Unlocked in the second chapter, it refreshes upon landing.
Collectibles: 1. Stars: Determine different outcomes. 2. Lights: Provide attribute bonuses when acquiring skins in the store. 3. Black Hearts: Reset all currently encountered debuffs.
Bonus Level: If the player manages to turn off all the lights within a level, player will enter a bonus level. Successfully completing the challenge can rescue the bird souls.

Bonus Level

Camera Moving: The camera automatically moves forward, and if the bird leaves the camera's frame, it results in immediate death.
Health Points: The bird needs to avoid light attacks while jumping. After being attacked 3 times, it will die.
Additional Skill: When the bird encounters a feather, it can perform a slide maneuver via keyboard controls

Annotated level scene: 1. Collect — collecting stars during the level won't impact gameplay but determines the game's outcome; 2. Debuff — if the bird is illuminated by the light, it will receive a debuff; 3. Just pass — Annotated level mockup — Collect / Debuff / Just Pass

Annotated level scene: 1. Avoiding attacks — the singer's notes can harm the bird; Save Bird Souls — electrical boxes can be used to control and turn off the lights — Annotated level mockup — Avoiding Attacks / Save Bird Souls

Endings

Prototype Testing & Visual Design

Prototype Testing

Other game system board (store, common yellow bird story, achievements) and peripherals design board (poster, print set, banners, keychain packs)

Game Elements Design

Bird character iterations — Character iteration

Environment props and lighting elements — Environment elements

Dialogue box UI variant — Dialogue boxes

Screenshots

Feedbacks

Oh my gosh! Those reversed controls after hitting the lights were a real pain to handle, but it made me empathize with how the bird feels when surrounded by all that nighttime glow – seriously disorienting! I guess I'll be turning off some unnecessary lights in my life too.

I love the character design in the game, they're all so cute. I'm looking forward to seeing how the character abilities blend with the levels in the future. I believe it will make the game even more immersive and enjoyable!

I think the game's level difficulty progression is well done! I could feel myself improving as I played, gradually adapting to the gameplay. It's a very enjoyable little game~

I think the gameplay and your story could use some more consideration. For instance, how to better reflect the theme of light pollution? I feel like I got the idea of spatial disorientation when playing, but apart from the key reversal, can the theme and game mechanics be more integrated?

Developer reply — Thanks so much for helping me escape the building! In the future, I'm planning to introduce some puzzle mechanics involving special lighting effects, such as requiring players to plan their routes based on light combinations or enabling players to ascend by utilizing the light reversal mechanism. Stay tuned for more updates!

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