Dad’s Monster House Brings a Unique Horror Puzzle Adventure to Xbox
Dad’s Monster House was created by Cotton Game, a studio that specializes in making unique puzzle games. While the art style is seemingly spooky and suspenseful, its story is truly sentimental with an even more heartwarming ending. We are so thrilled to share that Dad’s Monster House will be part of this year’s ID@Xbox Winter Game Demo Event! With Dad’s Monster House, we wanted to provide those heartbreaking memories a chance at redemption. We wanted to dedicate this game to scientists, to my childhood dreams, to those whom I love, and to faded memories.
When I was a child, my mother told me a story about a man-made creature. I later realized that this story is from a novel called Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley. It was a cool story, so, when I was eight years old, my dream was to become a scientist.
There’s a saying that when you’re a kid, you get to have your own dream; but when you grow up, everyone’s dream becomes exactly the same – to be rich!
I never got to become a scientist. Instead, I became a game developer. Deep down I still regret not reaching my childhood dreams. That’s why I wanted to develop this game – I wanted to tell a story about a scientist. The story had to be dark, eerie, and emotional. The graphics also had to be dark, unique and instantly memorable. And the ending had to be sad, and soul-stirring.
I started off with a sketch of Frankenstein, the man-made monster. This set the art style for the rest of the game’s black and white sketches. All my friends told me not to make a game that looked like this. They said, “Your style is all about colour, what advantage do you have in making black and white games?” They also said, “Puzzle solving, black and white, and narrative? – you’ll probably make less money combining all those three categories together.” They all seemed to have a point.
I replied, “I know it sounds tough, but I want to take on this challenge – just to live up to my own dreams.” But then they said, “Don’t be so naive. Making a game is about understanding the market and respecting it, don’t live in your own stubbornness and naivety. You seriously need to go study the market first before you set up this new project.”
I thought to myself: even though all of you are saying to not be reckless with ideas, I’m still going to make this game the way I want.
The game was hard enough to make. After five years of stumbling around, Dad’s Monster House is finally going live. As the name suggests, there are a lot of monsters in the game. They are not demons in the traditional sense; they are just eerie creatures not from our world. They have minds, hearts and souls, just like us. In a way, they represent the scientists’ minds in the game. They also represent the real-life personalities of some of us game developers…
As I was playing the game, pacing back and forth in the room with the dull sound of footsteps, surrounded by mystery and darkness, I felt those little monsters sitting quietly in a corner, looking very lonely. At that very moment, I also felt lonely.
There’s another saying that “If you’re different, you’re bound to be lonely.” We finished the game. And we really enjoyed it ourselves. And that was enough.
No matter what people say, I would tell them: “In this mediocre world, for once, I just want to live for my stubbornness and childishness.”
We hope you enjoy this game as much as we did, and remind you of your memories, dreams, and family.
Dad's Monster House
E-Home Entertianment Development Co., Ltd