Lust

unlock desire. One room at a time.

ROLE : Game Designer, Level Designer, Level Artist, Lighting and 3D Artist.

CONTEXT : Second Year Project - 2024
GENRE : Puzzle Horror Game with BDSM-inspired themes
PLATFORM : PC
TEAM SIZE : 6
DURATION : 5 months
ENGINE : Unreal Engine

PITCH : You wake up in a place you don’t recognize. Around you, masked figures in leather watch in silence. You’re trapped inside a house of pleasure ruled by a Mistress and her loyal minions, where pain is the only law. To break free from this nightmare, you must uncover the desires of each submissive soul and give them the pleasure they crave.

My level design missions:

gameplay situation ideas

It Started with Narration

- Designed puzzles based on narrative.
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- Built levels based on concept sketches, carefully adapting the gameplay and highlighting the mechanics essential to solving each puzzle.
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- Crafted every room as a unique experience, complete with its own story, gameplay dynamics, and the desires to fulfill for each submissive character.

[background image] image of unique furniture craftsmanship for a furniture store

Gameplay and Immersion
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- Create immersive environments with strong narrative and visual identity, reinforcing the game’s eerie atmosphere both inside and outside the main rooms.

Designing Impactful Spaces

- Design and implement lighting setups for each room to support readability, set the tone, and subtly guide the player.
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- Lead playtesting sessions to refine gameplay, identify friction points, and elevate the experience.

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[background image] image of unique furniture craftsmanship for a furniture store

My level design tasks:


- Layout design
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- Blockout creation and spatial planning
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- Gameplay scripting (NPC behavior, logic & interaction)
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- Puzzle design
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- Playtest planning & feedback analysis
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- Lighting & mood setup (level art)
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- Iterative refinement based on playtest results
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Narration. Concept. Prototype. Playtest.

Design process
Map & Rooms
NPC / Mistress
image of park map (for an amusement park)

How It Took Shape

Each room was based on a predefined narrative script, unique to the submissive character it featured. My goal was to extract gameplay ideas directly from the script, ensuring that each mechanic was tightly linked to the story and BDSM atmosphere.
To deepen immersion, we chose a first-person perspective, placing the player in the protagonist’s shoes. She must inflict pain, experienced as pleasure by the submissive, to progress.
The level design encourages players to closely observe their surroundings, interpret visual clues, and solve each room’s puzzle in order to escape.

My level building missions :
- Build all rooms based on level design sketches and blockouts, using game-ready assets provided by the art team. Ensure each space has a strong visual identity and a clear gameplay purpose.
- Set up lighting in each room to support gameplay readability, highlight navigation paths, and emphasize key points of interest.
- Create blueprints to bring NPCs to life and enhance player immersion.
- Collaborate with the team to ensure visual consistency and smooth gameplay flow across all environments..
My level building tasks :
- Asset Integration
- Prop modeling
- Material Creation & Adjustment
- Level building
- Lighting
- Optimization

Whip

Strike to solve.

The whip is one of the game’s most iconic elements. A symbol of both pleasure and pain, it becomes a key tool once in the player’s hands (and stays with them for the rest of the game). It allows them to reach distant objects and trigger mechanisms.

The whip is deliberately placed in the environment to draw attention, encouraging players to pick it up and use it for the game.

Zippo Lighter

Burn for pleasure.

The Zippo lighter is another iconic object at the heart of the gameplay. Thanks to its clear affordance, the player is encouraged to explore what can be lit or burned in the environment to bring either pleasure or pain to the submissive character in the room.

Like the other key items in the game, the Zippo lighter remains in the player's inventory and is showcased in the very first room to draw attention and invite interaction.

Battery Clamps & Car Battery

Voltage of Desire.

The final iconic gameplay items are the clamps and the car battery. Like the other interactive objects, they are deliberately highlighted in the environment so players can easily spot and collect them.

Once in the inventory, they can be used on the submissive character in the room to deliver either pleasure or pain.

Unlock Pleasure

Satisfy to survive.

The player’s goal is to escape the room by delivering pleasure and/or pain to the submissive character inside.
To maximize immersion, we implemented a diegetic pleasure/pain gauge on the door itself. This gauge reacts in real-time to the player's actions, reflecting the submissive’s responses. As the player interacts with the environment, the gauge gradually fills. Once it’s full, the door opens, allowing the player to progress.
The Mistress responds to each of the player’s actions through loudspeakers, guiding them, teasing them, or scolding them when they make a mistake.

Map

The LUST map is designed like a brothel, with the player moving from room to room (0 to 4), each one connected by corridors. Every room has its own observation area, reinforcing the feeling of being constantly watched. A clear parallel is established between the player's path and the enemies' patrol path, emphasizing that the Mistress's minions are always close, silently observing and trying to uncover the secrets behind each scene.

Room 1

When the player enters the room, they see the submissive suspended and the Mistress’s minion silently observing, waiting for any action that could bring them shared pleasure. The entire space is designed around the guest, making them the focal point. The player is free to walk around, observe, understand, and act to fulfill the guest’s desires. Subtle clues are scattered throughout the room to support the player in their quest.

The Nightmare Begins

Room 1 - The Suspended Man.

image of a relaxing restaurant waiting area (for a japanese restaurant)
image of a main course assortment for a chinese restaurant
image of plated gourmet dish (for a fine dining restaurant)

Room 2

In this room, the player enters what feels like a movie set, with the submissive guest locked inside a cage. As in the previous room, they must observe, understand the situation, and find how to bring pleasure/pain to the guest. However, this time, another submissive is also present, one who is tracking the statue of the Mistress. To unlock the exit, the player must interact with both submissives and satisfy them accordingly.

Quiet On Set!

Room 2 - The Girl and the Box.

image of a relaxing restaurant waiting area (for a japanese restaurant)
image of a main course assortment for a chinese restaurant
image of plated gourmet dish (for a fine dining restaurant)

Room 3

By now, in this final room, the player has grown accustomed to the gameplay, but each submissive has unique desires.
In a side room, a pipe puzzle mini-game increases the difficulty, testing both the player’s understanding and precision.

Taking a Bath

Room 3 - The Man in the Bathtub.

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image of a main course assortment for a chinese restaurant
image of plated gourmet dish (for a fine dining restaurant)

The White Room

The White Room stands as a hidden control chamber, where, all along, the Mistress has silently watched, whispering her presence through speakers. Now, as the player enters, the veil is lifted: surveillance monitors reveal fragments of every act, every choice made throughout the game. A final transformation awaits. The Mistress's attire lies ready, inviting the player to step into her role... and let the cycle begin anew.

You become Her

White Room - To embody the Mistress.

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image of a main course assortment for a chinese restaurant

Where It Ends, It Begins

When the player dons the Mistress's outfit and exits the White Room, they follow a final corridor that leads back to the balcony, the very same one they glimpsed at the beginning of the game.
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The environment loops back on itself, revealing that the map is designed as a perfect circle, just like the experience.
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By standing in the Mistress’s place, the player realizes they have become her, and the cycle of Lust is about to begin again — an endless, infernal loop.
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A short cinematic follows the transition, panning across the space to unveil six other rooms, each tied to a different deadly sin, still waiting to be explored... and atoned for.

You are Her

The Infernal Loop.

image of a relaxing restaurant waiting area (for a japanese restaurant)
image of a main course assortment for a chinese restaurant
image of plated gourmet dish (for a fine dining restaurant)

Observers from the Observation Rooms

The Mistress’s silent minions, watching your every move and following you from room to room.

image of a relaxing restaurant waiting area (for a japanese restaurant)
When the player exits a room, the Mistress’s minions quietly follow them to the next.
To implement this, I placed a trigger at each room’s exit that activates the minions, directing them along a spline path to the next observation room.
This setup reinforces the unsettling sense of being constantly followed. Through the corridor windows, players may spot the minions trailing behind, always close, always watching from a distance, as if reporting back to the Mistress.

Agents from the Backrooms

These hidden NPCs respond to your actions, activating secret mechanisms in the backrooms.

image of a relaxing restaurant waiting area (for a japanese restaurant)
In the underground corridors, the player can glimpse other of the Mistress’s minions working in the backrooms, visible through the corridor windows.
By observing them, the player gradually understands that these silent figures are the ones activating hidden mechanisms, helping to solve the puzzles in each room from the shadows.

The Mistress

From the shadows of every room, her voice echoes.
She sees it all, she knows your every move, and in this house of pleasure, her will is law.

The Mistress is omniscient.
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She observes everything through the surveillance cameras installed in each room. As soon as the player enters, she speaks to them, commenting on their actions and reacting to how they interact with the environment.
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If the player makes a mistake or fails, she doesn’t stay silent. Instead, she emerges from behind her door and punishes them with her riding crop. Their failure leads to the death of the submissive, forcing the player to restart the game. Every choice matters under her watchful gaze. That’s why there are always two distinct exit doors in each room: one for the player, and the other for the Mistress herself.
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