How I designed the spawn area and three train sections for a social deduction game set on a moving train.
The train is far bigger than a real one, and its rooms aren't always train-shaped. The aim was to keep the illusion of being on a train while giving a social deduction game the space it needs.
A 3D take on Among Us-style social deduction, set on a moving train inspired by Snowpiercer (2014). The Lightbringers search loot boxes for the fuses that keep the train powered, racing to reach the destination in time. The saboteurs, hidden among them, try to stop them.
I built the spawn area and three sections of the train: the Reactor Room, the Observatory and Library, and the Armoury, where the weapons are found. Another designer built the other half. Rather than lining up identical carriages, I treated the train as an illusion: rooms are larger and differently shaped than a real train allows, but enough cues remain, including windows looking out in some areas, that players always feel they're on board.
Loot boxes hold the fuses the crew need, along with a double-barrel shotgun and shells. Lockpicks open better loot boxes and encrypted keys open encrypted ones, and a crafting table adds another reason to move through the train.
We were close to playtesting when the team lost momentum, and I ended up the only one still working on it. It stayed a prototype: a cool concept that never got the legs to go further, and a lesson in how much a team project depends on keeping everyone moving.