Obscurity

Frame · Mystery & ambiguity atmospheric · visual / auditory / haptic

Opaque, unclear, fogged – the world refuses to be understood.

Design question – Your game lacks clarity – on purpose. What is gained through the opacity, what is lost?

Atmosphere

Obscurity

Sensory field

Sight: fog, haze, blurred contours, shadows without a source, symbols without explanation. Sound: muffled noises, unclear voices, as if cotton wool were in between. Touch: disorientation, uncertainty, a groping step.

Coherence

Obscurity implies the withholding of information as a deliberate design choice – rules are not fully explained, goals stay vague, feedback is ambiguous. Mechanisms: Hidden Information, Fog of War, Emergent Narrative. Activities: Interpreting, Exploring, Experimenting. Caution: it can turn into frustration when no progress signals exist.