Depths of the Cave

Team Size: 8

Allocated Time: 2 Weeks

Blurb:

The anglerfish arrives at the beginnings of a reflective life, by swimming out of the depths of the ocean—their Cave—and returning to it.

Goals:

• To create a game reflecting select passages from the book Gamer Theory by McKenzie Wark.
• To have interactable NPCs.
  • Dialogue should change depending on game progress.
    • Before and exiting the “cave.”
• To have visible changes to Anglerfish protagonist as it moves through the depths.
  • To make compression changes permanent.
  • NPCs should comment on these changes.
• To have an eye-opening moment at the surface, akin to exiting the “Cave.”

Responsibilities:

• Primary:
  • Game premise, mechanics and system
  • Project management
  • Dialogue writing and system
• Secondary:
  • Camera system
  • 3D modelling and lighting

Overall evaluation:

Regarding inspirations, we had been reading McKenzie Wark’s Gamer Theory in class at the time, a book which further adapts Plato’s Allegory of the Cave into a modern-day argument on games. This would form the base of our project, and we knew we wanted to make a game around it. Here, I recalled this following picture of an Anglerfish, who made headlines in early 2025 for swimming to the surface in the first ever alive sighting (filmed) of its kind in shallow waters.

I was inspired by the movement of the anglerfish, and given the context of the Cave which I had recently been thinking about, the connection was instant: the anglerfish was physically exiting the metaphorical cave. While the exact reason behind it surfacing is unknown, after pitching the idea to the team, we decided to interpret it as an anglerfish wanting to know more about the world around it, specifically the “great above” which no other fish cared or knew anything about. The player fish would first question what was above them, and then eventually embark on a solo journey upwards, where the pressure differences would continue to permanently injure and compress the player. Eventually, they would reach the surface and a fast-paced disorienting video of global events would play out, functioning as an awakening event – exiting the cave. And after, when they once again dive back into the depths, they would do so permanently crippled, which the inhabitants of the deep would shame and ridicule, for the futility of the trip.

The core gameplay loop is incredibly simple and relatively linear, where the player plays as the anglerfish, talk with the surrounding inhabitants of the deep sea, before there’s really nothing else left to do except swim higher up (and eventually down again), interacting with more fish along the way. I think this was quite effective at conveying the messaging within the Allegory of the Cave, as the anglerfish’s journey from darkness into light (and back) physically embodies the Cave’s central metaphor: the painful ascent toward truth, the disillusionment with the "real world," and the isolating burden of enlightenment.

Regarding the art direction, we decided we wanted a 3D environment with 2D fish sprites, which was both a stylistic and meaningful decision, where the 2D fish sprites would visually embody "shadows on the cave wall," turning the characters into literal projections in a vastly more “real” world. Regarding lighting, as an anglerfish, it was necessary to have a functioning light source attached to their bulb which visibly lit up the surroundings when the player is deeper down. However, as they ascend, the surroundings visibly lighten up and so the anglerfish’s light is no longer as noticeable. While it’s an obvious feature following basic natural laws, there are additional meanings we added to it in the context of this game. The anglerfish’s light represents the chasing of knowledge akin to chasing a carrot on a stick. In the depths of the cave, the anglerfish’s light is the only source of "truth," which reveals fragments of reality in a void of ignorance. But, as the surroundings brighten in the ascent to knowledge, the light fades more and more into irrelevance — visually symbolizing how personal opinions are insignificant against the blinding totality of truth. And when finally the anglerfish returns to the depths, the other deep-sea fish mock as they are fully adapted to darkness. Here, the light embodies Plato’s central tragedy: enlightenment isolates so that those still in darkness see the bearer of truth as a threat.