You are a girl on the night before her first day of college. As she anxiously slips into the night's slumber, her subconscious thoughts overwhelm her -- grades, exams, boys, carbs, making friends, and so on. She enters the dream world with much on her mind.
The game is a 2D infinite runner that is the manifestation of her dreams and subconscious [on the night before her first college day].
Summary:
In this abstract fever dream, we see the girl's adversaries rendered as her greatest woes -- she will be dodging floating donuts (calories!) while trying to maintain a steady supply of coffee (without overdosing - doing so will speed her up uncontrollably, increasing the difficulty). Social encounters with other people can raise her embarrassment and trip her up.
She can pick up a variety of objects that affect her movement properties: an Umbrella will allow her to slow-fall, for example.
The Girl's speed will be determined by some score multiplier that tallies up when she picks up objects and performs certain moves of finesse/grace; such as landing perfectly, jumping through rainbow hoops, avoiding objects and gaining verticality. These moves can be cleverly named, appearing on the screen using snazzy fonts, colors, and graphics.
There will be consumable boosts, such as a taxi coupon that gives you a head start, or a Matrix-like power move that allows you to throw off nerds and stalkers in a spectacularly dramatic fashion, giving you a second chance when you lose. These boosts and power ups allow the girl to live through a momentary but dramatic power fantasy, which in turn gives her a confidence / morale boost.
The game is heavily based on Jetpack Joyride in terms of its gameplay and controls, but given a unique thematic and aesthetic presentation.
Preparation:
Like most runners, there will be a pre-game menu where you can customise your character and buy boosts. In this game, this is represented by the girl's bedroom. You can do things in your room to influence your dream in some way. Play some music in your room and it will influence the overall mood (perhaps influencing the RNG / encounters / DMW system). Keep the lights turned on and you may be weaker to begin with (lights make it harder to remain in a dream state) but might have an advantage against creepy crawlies. Open the window could have some consequences / advantages / disadvantages. Maybe depending on the season or the climate things could change. If you ate a steak dinner you could be thinking about steak...
Gimmick:
D.M.W: Digital Mind Wave - slot machine
Taken directly from Crisis Core on the PSP, this game would implement a slot machine that constantly plays in the background. This slot machine incorporates subconsciousness / emotions / memories. Can determine changes of the current themed area, the type of obstacles that you get, the type of props, the speed, the frequency of obstacles, the pickup you gain, temporary boosts / buffs, etc.
You can influence the DMW with your performance and with the purchase of items, and set up before you fall asleep. Things like her favorite or least favorite food can increase or decrease in frequency, or what have you. When you pass out it could be like the Crisis Core ending where it begins to malfunction (Your last hope! Can it help!?). The screen could slowly be pulling itself out as it does this: if the DMW fails to give you a second chance, it flashes backwards and you wake up in a cold sweat. Otherwise it zooms back in and you get your second chance.
