Hello.
For the past few months, I’ve been focusing mostly on building the spaces you’ll inhabit in Morbid Mailroom. Because the game uses a handmade, claymation aesthetic, every environment has to carry a specific kind of weight. The imperfections in the clay, the architecture, the lighting all need to feel suffocating.
Dethlam is an occult panopticon. It is designed to make you feel small, watched, and constantly uneasy. Here is a look at some of the locations I’ve been working on this May.
Keep in mind this is all work-in-progress. Visuals should continue to improve from here.
The Service Elevator
This is how you descend into the depths of the facility. It’s a rusted iron cage with an open grate. As you rocket down the shaft, you can watch the jagged tunnel walls blur past you. It’s loud, unstable, and a violent reminder of exactly how far underground you are being buried every single day.
The Mailroom
This is where the prison’s isolation hits you. It’s a cramped, disorganized hub filled with the scent of old paper and yet to be processed packages, some of vital importance to the lives of the inmates. It represents the endless, grinding machine of Dethlam’s bureaucracy. I wanted this space to feel claustrophobic and endless all at once. 
The Inspection Room
Your station. Isolated and quiet, save for the hum of the incinerator. Under a harsh, focused light, you’ll tear open parcels, decode letters, and handle things that shouldn't exist. I designed this room to feel like a trap. When you are at the desk, the rest of the world fades into deep shadow, leaving you entirely alone with your work and the consequences of your choices.
The Cellblock
Deep underground is the cellblock. A grim, stone carved dungeon that feels entirely devoid of hope. At the center is a tall central tower.
As a panopticon, this tower oversees everything. Even when you can't see the eyes behind the glass, you know they are fixed on you. It stands as a constant, silent threat watching your movements.
Every smudge in the clay and every shadow cast by the tower is being placed by hand to ensure the atmosphere feels dead and unyielding. I’m creating a slow burn psychological horror experience, where the environment itself plays a part in your undoing.
That's all I can show you this month.
