With It We Leave
Enter Christina Lyon, a death row inmate falsely accused of the murder of her husband and daughter. She is taken to a prison run by Charybdis Industries, a corporation secretly experimenting on an amphibious carnivore in a secure laboratory within the same facility. When the subject escapes and goes on a killing spree, Christina wakes to find herself the sole survivor. Now trapped in an abandoned facility with a dangerous creature, Christina must find a way to escape, using the subject’s attraction to noise to break down walls. Along the way, she will reminisce about the facility’s dead inhabitants and uncover exactly why the creature was there in the first place.
In this narrative horror game, you must use the creature to escape an isolated facility, will you escape or die trying?
The Core Features of the Project
Team Size: 16
Engine: Unreal Engine
Timeline: January - May 2026
Major personal contributions:
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Created original sound assets using synthesizers and Foley techniques to build and reinforce player actions and the horror atmosphere
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Used ambiance to make areas feel more real and distinct, as well as build a sense of isolation and fear
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Built on pre-existing systems to expand on mechanics such as flares, death, and hallucinations
Game Trailer
The Sounds of the Setting
Horror Ambiance
Ambiance is one of the most important aspects of any horror experience, with sound being a huge piece of that. Being onboarded onto this project, my role was to build on what the other sound designer had already done, making every area feel immersive. From computer fans and glitching machines in the offices and labs, to the crashing of waves in the endless seas.
Making Death Impactful
Sound Effects and Synths
Dying in a game should always feel dramatic and impactful, especially when that death is being eaten by a strange monster. I used a combination of spooky synths, modulated noises from the creature herself, and recordings of myself crunching granola, creating a dramatic death sound that clearly communicates how Christina met her end.
Audio Logs
Voice Acting and Editing
As the majority of the story of the game takes place before the game itself, it was important to find ways to teach the player about what had happened in the past. One way we did this was with audio logs, recorded by the scientists who were studying the monster in the first place. Myself and the other sound designer on the project worked with a group of voice actors and edited that with a selection of filters, effects, and added Foley sound effects to create the eight audio logs that walk you through the history of the place you are attempting to escape.
Ending in Tragedy
Music in the Final Cutscene
For a game with a split ending, it's important to reinforce to the player that they made the wrong decision. While the cutscene can show that directly, the ending music can leave a final impression, clearly telling the player "you did the wrong thing and you paid the price."
