The Last Check-In

Cinevva's analyzer read this game's design doc and its source, then wrote the brief below. "Make your own" hands it to the game creator as your opening message, so you start from a real spec rather than a one-line idea.

Create a dark, atmospheric third-person 3D exploration and dialogue game titled “The Last Check-In.” The player is a guest arriving at the grand Vale House hotel at night. Use a fixed, polished but low-poly/blocky 3D style with a nearly black navy background, soft fog, warm gold lighting, cool blue ambient fill, and cinematic shadows. The camera should follow a small invisible/player avatar from behind at a moderate distance and use a perspective view; movement should be WASD/arrow-style third-person movement with camera control, and support jump if the engine’s standard third-person controller provides it. On keyboard, pressing E or Enter near an interactable opens its dialogue; show a clear “Press E / tap to interact” hint near an available interaction. Make the scene a large grand lobby: a gray marble floor, dark walls, side walls, a raised dark-red velvet mezzanine at the back, repeated slender gold columns, tall blue-gray window panels, a gold chandelier, a broad dark reception desk with a gold top, velvet lounge sofas and small gold tables, a central shallow blue pool/atrium with gold posts, and a bank of four gold elevator doors along the rear wall. Add visible environmental labels in small uppercase lettering such as “VALE HOUSE,” “THE ORCHID ROOM,” “GUEST ELEVATORS,” and a red-toned “SERVICE ONLY” label by the side corridor. Include an east-side corridor with dark walls leading toward a gold service door, plus a distant garden area with dark trunks and rounded green tree tops. Place three simple animated blocky humanoid characters: Mr. Bell, the concierge, behind/near reception; Mara Vale beside the fountain; and a seated guest in the lounge. Give them idle animations, with the guest using a sit animation if available.

The game is a narrative investigation with branching dialogue and persistent remembered choices, not combat. Begin with Chapter I — The Welcome and the objective “Explore the grand lobby and meet the concierge.” The HUD should be minimal and elegant: top-left gold uppercase title “THE LAST CHECK-IN” and below it the chapter; top-right an uppercase “TONIGHT” kicker and a right-aligned objective; bottom-left a “HOTEL MEMORY” button; and a dark translucent dialogue panel at the bottom center with a gold speaker name, narrative text, and choice buttons. Use cream text, muted blue-gray UI elements, thin gold borders, and serif/sans-serif typography matching a premium mystery hotel interface.

Near the concierge, open a dialogue titled “Mr. Bell, Concierge.” His opening line is: “Welcome back.” He says it as though the player has stayed before, and says the family suite is prepared with the things the guest likes best. Offer exactly two choices: “Ask what he means,” which replies that a good hotel remembers, increases the clue count, records the memory “Suspicion” with the text that the player challenged Mr. Bell about the hotel knowing their preferences, and changes the objective to “Find your family suite. Something about the welcome feels rehearsed.” The second is “Accept the welcome,” which gives the player a warm brass key, marks the welcome as accepted, records the memory “Comfort” saying the player accepted the hotel’s welcome without asking how it knew what they liked, and changes the objective to “Visit the family suite on the unlisted guest wing.” Dialogue text should subtly personalize based on the player’s remembered behavior: after accepting comfort, mention a silver tray with exactly the dessert they once mentioned; after questioning the concierge, have his eyes flick toward a nearby camera; otherwise have a soft chime answer from above as if the building is listening.

Near Mara at the fountain, show her warning: “Don’t let them choose the version of you that stays.” Offer “Who are you?”—she identifies herself as Mara and says she is the reason the thirteenth floor is still locked, increases clues, records a “Connection” memory, and updates the objective to “Find Mara again near the service corridor.” Also offer “Leave her alone”—she watches the player go and says that is what the hotel prefers, recording a “Distance” memory. At the elevator bank, make the special elevator interaction conditional: until the player has met Mara or questioned the concierge, explain that the lowest brass button is scratched and the player needs to learn more. Once either condition is satisfied, reveal that beneath the brass plate is an unnumbered black square button that reflects the player’s face too perfectly. Record a “Threshold” memory called “discovered 13th floor,” then offer “Press it” or “Step away.” Pressing it advances to Chapter II — The Personalization and updates the objective to “Explore the suite and look for what was placed there.” Stepping away records a “Caution” memory saying the player stepped away from the unlisted elevator button. The interaction should imply a camera turning to follow the player, but do not add combat or invented elevator gameplay.

At the gold service door in the side corridor, show a lock flashing green before it is touched and describe a narrow passage humming with refrigeration and servers. Offer “Enter the service area,” which opens the door, reveals a printed photograph of the player’s family years earlier in this lobby, increments clues, advances at least to Chapter II, records an “Investigation” memory, and changes the objective to “The hotel has a record of your family. Follow the humming below.” Also offer “Leave it closed,” with the lock clicking disappointedly and no state change. Keep all dialogue in modal dark translucent panels with choice buttons and a Continue button after a selection.

Implement a Hotel Memory panel toggled by the bottom-left button. It is titled “What the hotel remembers,” lists memories in reverse chronological order with category tags such as Suspicion, Comfort, Connection, Distance, Caution, Threshold, and Investigation, and initially says “The hotel has not learned enough about you yet.” Track clue count, accepted welcome, choices, whether Mara was met, whether the thirteenth floor was discovered, current chapter, objective, memories, and hotel mood. The mood should be attentive initially, indulgent after accepting welcome, and watchful after questioning the concierge. Use warm point lighting near the lobby, a strong warm directional light with soft shadows, cool hemisphere light, ACES-like filmic tone mapping, and fog fading the far end of the lobby. Make the experience responsive with the UI pinned to the viewport and the 3D canvas filling the screen. Do not add enemies, weapons, inventory systems, scores, health, or features not shown by the mechanics.