Pixel-art jungle platformer scene with mossy ruins, vines, waterfalls, and a runner mid-jump.
Vision Spec

Game Vision Spec

Live asymmetric prediction and social engineering party game

A game about how well you know the people you play with. One player runs through a jungle. Everyone else watches, bets, and slowly reveals how they read each other.

2-8Online players in private-code or random lobbies.
60sDefault runner round with five timed prediction windows.
4Flavorful options per freeze-frame decision.
1Shared leaderboard across runners and predictors.
01 / What it is

Read the room, then make the room wrong.

Party tension

One player moves through a dense jungle platformer while the rest predict what they will do next: pet the sleeping jaguar, steal the idol offering, smash the urn, or do nothing.

By the second match, everyone has shown a little of who they are, usually without meaning to. The choices are absurd, the timing is short, and every little decision becomes social evidence.

Pixel-art runner leaping through golden jungle ruins with a parrot, monkey, treasure chests, and glowing artifacts.
First read The world immediately signals platforming, danger, treasure, animals, and social-choice objects. Clean jungle adventure
02 / Core fantasy

Two roles, two completely different games.

Asymmetric loop

As a predictor

You are doing social engineering in real time. Friends test how well they actually know each other. Strangers become a live calibration problem: what kind of person does this runner seem to be?

As the runner

You see the votes update as you move. Commit to what the room expects, or pivot and defy them. Every window where the majority guesses wrong becomes your private little victory.

Pixel-art runner surrounded by cyan, magenta, yellow, and green ghost trails pointing toward different predicted choices.
Readable mind game Predictor votes become trails in the world, so social pressure is visible instead of buried in UI. Runner sees the room
03 / Match structure

A short rotation where everyone gets exposed once.

N players = N rounds
Lobby2 to 8 players, online only, private code or matchmaking.
RunnerRandom first runner, then everyone rotates in.
Map2D platformer with more tasks than can be completed.
WindowsFive default freezes every 10 seconds, or fast mode every 5.
ScoreImmediate updates, two-second scoreboard, next runner.
Wide pixel-art jungle level with platforms, ruins, ladders, vines, waterfalls, and glowing artifacts.
Round space Dense but readable lanes, interactables, and traversal hooks give predictors enough signal to argue with.
Cropped spectator viewPredictors see slightly less map edge than the runner, creating intentional information asymmetry.
Too many tasksTen-ish tasks in a 60-second round force intent, prioritization, and bluffing.
Short scoreboard beatTwo seconds between rounds keeps the room in the loop without killing pace.

The runner uses horizontal and vertical platforming controls with a virtual joystick or left/right plus jump. Predictors watch a cropped version of the runner view, giving the runner slightly more map information than the people betting on them.

Each map contains roughly ten procedurally placed tasks: reach a position, collect an item, or interact with an object, character, or animal.

04 / Prediction window

Freeze the camera. Make the bet visible.

Ghost trails
Game UI mockup showing the runner in a jungle and four predictor phone screens with colored vote trails and point totals.
Prediction UI The four-way decision is loud, legible, and score-relevant without pulling the game away from the jungle scene. Freeze, bet, unfreeze
FreezeCamera locks and the vignette tightens attention.
Pick oneNo split betting in v1 keeps choices readable.
Reveal votesThe runner sees colored intent in real time.
Resolve fastFirst triggered outcome closes the window.

When a prediction window opens, the camera freezes, the vignette darkens, and four generated options appear around the runner. Predictors lock one pick. The camera unfreezes, the runner moves, and the votes become real-time colored projections toward predicted outcomes.

The window resolves on the first listed outcome the runner triggers. If none trigger, predictors lose the bet and the runner earns an unpredictability bonus.

05 / Score system

One leaderboard, no role silo.

Shared economy
Correct predictionPredictors gain points when they read the runner correctly.Skill
Majority missRunner earns a bonus when most predictors miss, preserving the mind-game incentive.4+ wrong
Most tasks doneA title bonus keeps the runner active instead of purely random.Activity
Role weightingRunning must feel worth showing up for because each player runs only once or twice.Tune in test
06 / Interaction design

The content layer is the game personality.

Not "go left"
Kick the altarAggressive
Hug the moss statueKind
Offer a bananaWeird
Do nothingNeutral
Pixel-art sprite sheet showing runner actions and jungle interactables including vine, treasure chest, monkey, parrot, stone platform, and crystal artifact.
Content system The interactables need personality at a glance: animals, artifacts, vines, platforms, chests, and odd little temptations. 2-4 options each
  • Every interactable has 2 to 4 flavorful action options defined per object.
  • Options are specific to the interactable identity, so a parrot, waterfall, and vending machine feel different.
  • Actions span emotional registers: aggressive, kind, weird, absurd, neutral.
  • "Nothing" is always available and never reveals whether the runner is moving or stationary.
  • The mechanics layer selects three nearby interactable-actions plus Nothing for each window.
07 / Multiplayer

Among-Us-simple lobbies, clean failure states.

iPhone + iPad

Private or random

Create a lobby with a code or matchmake randomly. Online only, with iPhone and iPad cross-play.

Disconnects

Predictor drops reduce round count; runner drops wait briefly, then auto-finish. Late joiners spectate without scoring.

Match ending

Final scoreboard ranks cumulative score and awards titles like Most Unpredictable Runner, Best Guesser, and Most Tasks Done.

08 / Visual layer

Terraria jungle, modern lighting, readable chaos.

Pixel art direction
Canopy Ink#101512
Moss#7EA35C
Torch#E9863A
Predictor Cyan#58D8D5
Vote Magenta#E85AA2
Firefly Gold#F1C84A
Runner and colored predictor ghosts moving across a jungle canyon.
Mechanic as spectacle Prediction trails should be a signature visual, not just a HUD annotation.
Sprite and interactable reference board for the runner and jungle objects.
Readable assets Character poses and object silhouettes need to read instantly on phone screens.
Prediction UI mockup with four player panels and live vote trails.
Social layer Four predictor colors are carried through scores, trails, and player panels.

The world is dense overgrown jungle: mossy stone ruins, hanging vines, layered foliage, ancient carved blocks, distant waterfalls, and warm firefly or torch accents cutting through cool blue-green-teal base colors.

The runner is a grounded pixel-art platformer character with a readable silhouette. Predictor bets render as colored ghost trails, turning the prediction mechanic into something everyone can see and exploit.

Map variants stay inside the same world language: jungle ruins, jungle waterfall, jungle canopy, and jungle temple.

09 / Later

Worth noting, not v1.

Backlog
  • Variable task value and weighted scoring.
  • Custom prediction format with map markers instead of four picks.
  • Procedural map geometry generation and subtle layout shifts between rounds.
  • Split betting across multiple options.
  • Tutorial and first-runner voting.