The interactive experience Hysteria is born at the intersection between historical memory, psychological terror and immersive design, with the aim of transporting the player to the dark corridors of a psychiatric hospital in the 50s. Far from being just a survival horror, the project uses the video game as a means to make visible the abuses suffered by women and LGBTQIA+ people interned and subjected to inhumane treatment.

A sensory journey into real horror

Hysteria draws inspiration from iconic genre references such as Silent Hill, Dead Space and The Last of Us, combining environmental narrative, puzzles and strategic third-person combat. Every aesthetic and mechanical element is designed to intensify the feeling of vulnerability and oppression:

Psychiatric hospital setting, depicted as a single level with linearly connected puzzle-rooms.
Realistic characters sourced from Mixamo.com to reinforce the visual rawness and fluidity of the animations.
Chromatic palette dominated by dark and reddish tones, evoking danger and decadence.
Soundtrack inspired by Dead Space and Silent Hill, with synthetic textures, real strings and random crescendos that generate constant tension.
Dynamic FMOD audio system, with spatialization, random variation and vocal design recorded specifically for the game.

A story enclosed between notes and scars.

The narrative progress is built through notes and messages that uncover the past of the hospital and its invisible victims. The protagonist - an unnamed woman hospitalized for her sexual orientation - relives her own trauma in a mental limbo after a lobotomy. The creatures that haunt her do not come from fantasy: they are grotesque manifestations of real mistreatment and of a medical system that punished identities and desires.

Technology to feel, not to escape

Hysteria is developed in Unity, with Mixamo animations and modeling of spaces through realistic assets. The design is committed to accessible performance without sacrificing advanced shading effects, high-resolution textures and a complex sound environment.