I previously posted about a rare urge to write that I had. This post is a short continuation.
Another thing I did during that urge was, while re-reading old (2010-2011) project ideas, come up with a solution for one of them.
It was a survival horror game (what else could it be?) and I was stuck on what the nature of the danger was, monsters (as 99.9% of survival horrors)? demons? people? aliens? the mummy? nosferatu? a dog in a tutu? (I guess all of those could be classified as monsters one way or another, but that’s besides the point)
(360 words)
While reading other details about the idea I noticed that the game was (intentionally) very limited, as it was intended to be reasonably easy to finish making.
For example, the setup was such that the player would have a limited amount of time to finish his mission. Planned for 1-2 hours of game play. Little to no variety of choices for subsequent plays.
But I needed a danger to make the game work. It’s not like I plan on finishing it, but I dislike leaving project planning unfinished.
And that’s when and why I did what anyone should do…think of the X-Files!
Was there any monster of the week in the X-Files that would fit that sort of game?
Yes, there was! One of my favourite episodes even.
Could I make it work in the limited amount of time the player would have?
Yes. Although preferably it would need a longer period spent in the game universe.
Could it be translated into gameplay? (i.e. could I turn it into something the player should accomplish)
Yes. Easily. It even blends great with the original ideas.
Would it make the game just another run-of-the-mill survival horror?
Kinda. An extremely boring one perhaps, but with a seldom used scenario.
Perhaps it’s seldom used because it sucks.
Perhaps because it’s seen as overly simplistic.
Perhaps it’s too much of a genial idea for others to understand. 
And yeah, I guess I have another old project to write.
I’ll never finish it, but I’ll write it, that’s a promise.
See you next rant.