Premise:
Flash before my eyes follows the main character Annabelle, an elderly woman trapped within the mind and body of her 8 year old self within her final moments of life. Follow and control her as she explores the familiar yet forgotten environment to aid her in unlocking her past memories forgotten due to her battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Interact with her friends, family and pets to regain the level of connection she once had, to remember the fundamental moments within her life that shaped her as a person. Give her closure and the feeling of love before passing on.
The narrative of the game will be portrayed mostly through written text and interactions with other characters. Some messages and aspects of the narrative will be displayed within a different matter, through the environment and simply through the actions you take. There is no spoken dialogue.
Endings:
good ending:
Within the ‘good’ ending the player is able to unlock memories and thoroughly explore their past, they rebuild the connections with the people important to them, they remember key developmental factors in Annabelle’s life. She is at peace. Yes there are going to be some negative memories and interactions such as with anything real, no one thing is entirely positive. But at least the player will have helped the elderly woman to pass on with a level of understanding and acceptance. She is surrounded by the people that she loves and leaves a final lasting impression, it is an overwhelmingly positive note to end on considering the death of her character is inevitable. She can die happy and aware.
bad ending:
The bad ending will be where the player is unable to unlock the majority of key moments within Annabelle’s life. They don’t build relationships with the people close to her and therefore are partially confused as to why they are there with her. She will have minimal understanding of what is happening to her and is dazed and confused. At the end she will fight in her final moments, struggling against the turmoil of her own mind.
other:
Having a topic surrounding death being only good or bad is unrealistic, this is why there is a secret third ending within the game. This will be where the player unlocks one side of the achievements more then the other, either not unlocking their memories or not building a foundation of a relationship with the people around her. It will be neither positive or negative, it will just exist. Similar to Annabelle’s life it will not be extraordinary but it will not be heart-breaking or negative.
Story:
The player will start briefly as Annabelle in her current state, an elderly woman suffering with dementia. They will be introduced to her family and friends as she lies in her bed and takes her final breaths confused and emotionally alone.
It is after that the player will be introduced to the main setting of the game, they will play as an eight year old Annabelle exploring her past. They will explore her surroundings starting within the confines of her childhood bedroom. Since the main character’s memory is heavily affected you the player are discovering things about her at the same pace, experiencing it together through her eyes. By interacting with some of the toys, books and notes within her environment Annabelle starts to understand the reality of her situation. At mind she is still this confused and scared old woman, yet physically she is now in her own childhood bedroom unaware of the meaning behind her surroundings. By interacting with these items she will have to solve a series of puzzles before she can leave her room.
This is where the option to interact with Annabelle’s family comes into the options. She is forced to interact with her mother and sister with little to no knowledge of whom they are. It is overwhelming and scary for her in that moment, but by saying the right thing and doing the correct actions you the player can build her relationship with them and subsequentially gain the ability to unlock memories.