Poppy Playtime: Escape Trials

I was contracted to work at Mob Entertainment on a multiplayer experience as part of a 5 person team. The goal was to create a multiplayer horror experience that felt familiar to fans of Poppy Playtime. Our product was received well and received a concurrent user count of 10,900.

Tools: Unreal Editor for Fortnite
5 Month Contract
Lead Engineer

Pre-Production

Gathering References

I spent the first week familiarizing myself with the IP, playing through all the single player games and then trying the 3 preexisting official Poppy Playtime multiplayer experiences to see what could be built upon and removed for a UGC experience.

We were told the experience had to feel close to home to Poppy Playtime fans but had to differentiate itself Project Playtime, from their last major multiplayer game.

When doing research, I was inspired by viral games like Among Us and Lethal Company.

Experience Pillars

Co-op Survival: Players work together to finish tasks under pressure, with systems designed to keep teamwork essential.

Unpredictability: Randomized tasks and maze layouts keep runs fresh to prevent repetition.

Escalating Tension: Wave based respawns, scaling difficulty, and tunnel mechanics keep rising tension throughout the match.

Horror Payoff: Each game ends in a high intensity escape sequence to deliver a clear climax.

Core Loop and Progression

Core Loop

Players enter a lobby, complete randomized co-op objectives while avoiding a stalker enemy, then face a permadeath, dynamically generated maze. Wrong turns trigger jumpscares, and only by finding the correct route can the team escape together.

Progression

Players can earn gold from completing tasks, getting achievements, and finding secrets to upgrade their max run speed and running stamina, they can also spend gold to purchase skins for their hands that other players can see.

Design Choices

Task System

There's a randomized task system to keep each match feeling fresh since there are only two maps. Tasks scale with player count and force players into high risk moments where they're vulnerable to create tension and meaningful gameplay choices.

Wave Respawns

I pushed for a wave based system where players respawn every 60 seconds as a way to discourage early disconnects. Balancing the respawn frequency was a fun challenge that taught me how small timing tweaks can drastically impact engagement.

Player Scaling

We included scaling systems to adjust the game dynamically for 1-4 players, adding more tasks and spawning more monsters to keep everyone under pressure. It was a great exercise in making sure difficulty and pacing felt right no matter the group size.

Cooperative Focus

I pushed to shift the design from competitive to cooperative, to make player deaths more impactful and the horror aspect stronger. To keep teamwork rewarding without players turning against each other, I added recognition based rewards that don't affect gameplay balance.

Tunnel System

I pitched a tunnel mechanic to let monsters quickly close the gap when across the map by travelling through a tunnel system to the most isolated player. I placed vents strategically in each level to create unique, high pressure situations to keep players on edge.

Escape Finale

We wanted an escape sequence to echo the main franchise, so I pitched a randomly seeded linear chase that felt familiar while preventing memorization. The team initially pushed for it to open the game, but I convinced them to place it at the end, where its intensity created a much stronger horror climax.

Jackson Clayton