In Hell is Us, Player Plattering strips away the maps and waypoints—leaving you to trust nothing but your instincts, the clues you uncover, and the chaos around you.
Jonathan Jacques-Belletete - Executive Creative Director and Art Director of Hell is Us:
In Hell is Us, you won’t have a magical map or compass revealing all points of interest surrounding you, no markers identifying your next quest objective, and no artificial or mechanical guides to orient you. Instead, we invite you to dive directly into the game’s universe and rely on your own observation, reasoning, and intuition to progress. The environments are not there simply to decorate, they are there to communicate. Correspondingly, paying attention to what the NPCs tell you is crucial; as what they tell you is actual organic information about what to do and how to do it.
We call this concept “Player-Plattering”, as it is the opposite of “Silver-Plattering”. It represents our deliberate choice not to serve everything to the player on a silver platter with ready-made directions and answers. Instead, we want the player to regain full control of their adventure by exploring, discovering, and deciding for themselves.
Although this choice is bold, it aims to create a deeply immersive gameplay experience. You’ll need to explore every corner of our world, pay attention to even the smallest clues, and be creative in solving the investigation that lies ahead. We firmly believe that this approach enhances immersion, plunging you into an adventure where every discovery is the result of your own cognitive effort. We want to bring back the true, old school, joy of exploring and discovering.