Abort: The Exile
Overview
"Abort: The Exile" is a 3D horror adventure game that takes you to the early 2000s in China, where you'll unravel the unsettling mysteries of the Zhang family.
Players wield the mystical camera to expose haunted artifacts, while relying on stealth mechanic to navigate a forsaken mansion swarming with ghosts. When cornered, a cursed diary invites spirit possession, granting fleeting safety at unknown costs. Blending environmental puzzles, non-combat stealth, and nerve-wracking QTEs, the design twists folklore and family trauma into an unsettling journey that echoes the silenced struggles of women in early 2000s China.
Abort: The Exile earned international recognition as a 2024 Silver Winner at the MUSE Creative Awards for its innovative cross-platform marketing and narrative-driven promotion. That same year, Dual-X Studio received a Silver Award for Redefining Gaming Narratives for Women, a digital manifesto highlighting the team’s mission of inclusivity and innovation in game storytelling.
What did I do
Designed the game’s core interaction loop and narrative-integrated puzzles, introducing the possession mechanic that enabled a key female character to emerge naturally through gameplay.
Co-led a design team of 8, guiding Chinese horror–themed puzzle design discussions and consolidating ideas into quest design integrated with narrative arcs, level design, and thematic metaphors.
Contributed heavily to worldbuilding and character design, gamifying fiction into the macro and creating key figures such as the Ghost Mother.
Camera: Revealing hidden elements. Its flashlight feature can expose secret items or monster tracks, albeit at the risk of drawing unwanted attention.
Possession: Interactions with the diary at times trigger possession — the female ghost’s soul takes over the player’s body, enabling him to navigate through swarms of horrifying presences undetected.