The Creek Down Hythe Terrace; a game where talking flowers and cow sized bumble bees stand in between your character and her peace of mind.

Narrative:

Hythe Terrace is a peaceful little street. Filled with well-to-do families, a very knowledgeable mail man and somewhat of an epidemic for missing pets.

A small bog runs through the gardens of the houses of Hythe Terrace, its water filtration makes these gardens lush, inclusive of strange looking plants and insects.

One day, a young girl is lured by one of these strange insects towards the less explored region along the creek's path.

Her mother follows after her. Unable to catch up, she finds herself charting territory that appears almost alien to her. Talking flowers, giant fat bumble bees, and every pet from recent memory that had gone missing, even Timmy[from across the road]'s illegally imported tarantulas. She just wants to find her daughter, but has a few new secrets about The Creek down Hythe Terrace to discover before they're reunited.

Gameplay(ish):

You play a distressed mother, who turned away from her daughter for 2 seconds just to see her a hundred meters away down the creek in a hurry.

This isn't an action action game, it's more like a third person walking simulator with adventure elements.

Essentially you can ask around the street for clues about the Creek, some might even give you understanding looks. At the same time, you venture further down the creek, going at your own pace, as the atmosphere and mystery imbibes you. Investigate strange events, talk to the dream-like inhabitants of the Creek's uncharted paths, and find the missing daughter.

The environments that the mother will traverse becoming increasingly unrecognizable, some even frightening. Lush colourful forests, abandoned houses reclaimed by nature, some where the long forgotten older families of Hythe Terrace still remain, a cave filled with bio-luminescent creatures, etc.

Inspiration:

This game idea was inspired mainly by a house I used to live at on a street with this very name in Mairangi Bay and a creek the ran down the back of it. I wasn't the most socially intelligent kid and often I'd just spend weekends making up stories about where the creek would lead. The "abandoned house" part is actually inspired directly from some childhood friend's house whose garden was always flooded and overgrown that it appeared like the ground was consuming the house from beneath.

The image here is of the back yard of the house I used to live at (and draw inspiration from). You can see the creek slightly. It was very thin, it looks a lot more mysterious in person I promise. You can also see the slight clipping of the overgrown lawn referenced earlier.

Suffice to say, this game isn't based in New Zealand, it just has a street with the same name and relative look. Technically it isn't really based anywhere.

(image from google earth)