Locket of Ants
I will recommend just to wait before you fully play as I haven’t even finished chapter one but I only posted the demo to gain some interest and feedback before I fully go into this but if you want to have a look of the early early demo here it is.
You can play here: CoGDemos
You play as a nobody from the lowest tier of society a “rat” struggling to survive in the brutal ghettos under the iron grip of the People’s Republic. Life here is harsh, filled with street fights, social pressure, and constant control. Your survival depends on how you navigate this world, whether through strength, diplomacy, cunning, or resilience.
I’m building a deeply immersive stat and mood system that reflects not only your physical and mental capacities but also your emotional state. Your mood affects your core stats like strength, charisma, willpower, and cunning dynamically changing how you perform and interact with the world.
Character Customization & Identity
Your character’s identity is central. From gender, sexuality, race, height, and build, to the choice of codename and eventual true name (Eg a name given or made by you like parents naming you John Marson) , Locket of Ants explores identity not just mechanically but narratively. You are have a codename you choose but your true self is locked behind layers of social status, trust, and rebellion.
The choices you make about your appearance and personality will influence how NPCs like Ghostbite (your old cellmate and fierce ally) react to you forming complex relationships with real consequences.
The Mood System — Your Emotional State Matters
Your mood isn’t just flavor text. Whether you’re ⊡ Neutral, Angry, ☒ Heartbroken, or ✦ Focused, your stats shift accordingly:
- Anger can boost your strength but harm diplomacy.
- Heartbreak weakens your willpower but heightens empathy.
- Deviousness sharpens your cunning and diplomacy.
This system is designed to encourage roleplay beyond just physical stats — your mental and emotional health impact survival in this brutal world.
Story & Setting
The game opens with a moment as you awaken in a bleak, colourless cell. The voice calls for your codename, pulling you out of a fugue of memories and pain. Your companion Ghostbite is waiting, blunt but loyal, ready to drag you into the harsh reality of the underground fighting world.
In a colourless dystopia ruled by the People’s Republic, you’re a ‘rat’ from the ghettos fighting to survive. In a world drained of life and freedom, face brutal fights, mental battles, and hard choices , will you conform or reclaim your humanity?
That was the synopois i put but aswell i envision to have the game surruound around fighitng /MMA tournemnts so it can be put as a sport game aswell but it will take a lil since i want to make sure its accurate and stuff.
Themes & Vision
Locket of Ants delves deeply into themes of identity, control vs. free will, societal oppression, and the humanity buried beneath the engineered perfection of the world.
I want to challenge traditional gender norms and explore closeted characters, social rejection, and the consequences of living under constant surveillance and brutality. Romance and relationships will be complex and difficult choices and failures will shape your bonds and your fate.
What’s Next?
Right now, the game is in early development. The foundation systems are being laid out stats, mood, character creation, and the opening scenes. Relationship dynamics, rankings, codex entries, and more nuanced story branches will come soon.
I plan to add more depth to character customization, unique interactions based on sexuality and identity, and immersive multimedia elements like art and sound to bring the world alive. Like fighitng stances , more detailed emoitions and foucsed on charater arcs making it slow paced but building the momentum as I have somewhat planed out for the story structure.
Note
This project is a long-term passion. I welcome all feedback harsh or gentle especially about how sensitive themes like gender, sexuality, and mental health are handled. My goal is to create a meaningful, immersive experience that respects and challenges its audience as I want to create a mature game and go in depth on how character perceive things change and how people react and you how do and the situations and realities of other people life making them act how they do not simply cause they are a brute force or just annonying. Keep in mind im new here and new to the coding part.
Thank you for reading I’ll be posting updates in the forums with progress and ideas but I cant gurrante when due to my studies , next update will be polishing the introduction more and the smothness of charatcer customization aswell i think the dialouge.
Stay tuned.
Last Update: (3/07/25)