“WUNDERWORLD” PITCH
STORY OVERVIEW
Genre: Sci-Fi, Suspense
Format: Visual Novel
Hook: When an unreported glitch in a female video game designer’s latest project causes its players to fall into comas, an encrypted message from a flirtatious hacker lures her into an online otherland. Caught up in a tangled web of real-life dangers and virtual romance, she’ll soon learn that there’s only one rule in Wunderworld: If your heart breaks in the game, it breaks for real.
MAIN CHARACTERS
The Protagonist: A female Narrative Designer at White Rabbit Studio. Her talents as a leader and storyteller evolve throughout the story. As the main character, the player can choose what she wears, who she pursues romantically, when to use or take items, and how to survive both in and out of Wunderworld.
The Good Girl: A female Level Designer at White Rabbit Studio. Harbors a crush on the Protag but anxiety initially keeps her from opening up enough to express her feelings. She’s a potential romance option yet remains a loyal and supportive friend to the Protag regardless of the Player’s choice.
The Bad Boy: A male Graphic Designer at White Rabbit Studio. Acerbic and quick to remind his coworkers that he only took the job as a foot in the industry door, but deep down he genuinely cares about them. He’s attracted to the Protag and isn’t afraid to show it, making him romance option #2.
The Boyfriend: The Protagonist’s high school sweetheart who by age 30 has gone a little sour. Content to sit on the couch playing video games all day, yet resentful of his girlfriend’s hard-earned success. Falls into a coma by the end of Act 1 and is rescued by the Protag in Act 2, only to break up with her in Act 3.
The Hacker: An anonymous techno-genius who’s taken a professional interest in the case and a personal interest in the Protagonist. The romantic connection is instantly electric, but their motives remain unclear. Her identity is later revealed to be Wunderworld’s strangely self-aware Artificial Intelligence tour guide.
The Beast: An agent investigating the Red King’s Curse on behalf of the Board of Electronic Assessments for Safer Technology. His suspicions of Protag’s involvement seem to be confirmed when he finds her at a crime scene, leading to a dogged pursuit that ends only when the Hacker intervenes to help Protag escape.
The Staff: The tertiary characters with whom the Protagonist will interact over the course of the story. Includes familiar office space archetypes but with a game industry flair, such as the Boss, the PR Guy, the HR Lady, the QA Testers, and the Producer. Their role will be to facilitate the plot and challenge Protag.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Ch. 1-2, Inciting Incident: “Failure to Launch”
The Protagonist (Protag) wakes up late for work to find a flirtatious text message from an unknown sender (Hacker). She arrives to her job as a Narrative Designer at White Rabbit Studio just in time for the Launch Day celebration of their latest and greatest project, an Augmented Reality (AR) MMORPG titled “Wunderworld”. The office festivities, however, are cut short when the games’ Day One players all fall into comas.
Ch. 3-4, Rising Action: “Postpartum Production”
Protag and her closest coworkers slash friends, a Level Designer (Good Girl) and a Graphic Designer (Bad Boy), begin investigating the incident to clear their names and rescue the victims (including Protag’s Boyfriend) from their catatonic states. A series of cryptic hints on her phone sends the Protag down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, but the trail runs dry when she finds her only lead (QA Tester) dead.
Ch. 5-6, Complication: “Curiouser & Curiouser”
Protag barely has time to recover from the shock of finding her former coworker dead in a ransacked motel room before a man in black (the Beast) arrives, pins the crime on her, and gives pursuit. A chase ensues, but Good Girl or Bad Boy helps her shake the BEAST agent off her tail. Protag decides there’s nowhere left to go but Wunderworld itself. Stealing three recalled AR headsets is no small task, but once they’re online, they meet the Hacker: an in-game AI tour guide.
Ch. 7-8, Climax: “Mirror Stage”
The Hacker explains she doesn’t know how or why she’s gained self-awareness, but she gladly guides the trio through the dangers of the AR labyrinth. After several encounters and puzzles they reach the Mirror Stage, a level where those who fail are stricken by the Red King’s Curse. Only by pushing themselves to the physical and mental breaking point can the protagonists defeat the boss and save their fans.
Ch. 9-10, Reversal: “Churn Notice”
The Boyfriend wakes up, and to Protag’s surprise is resentful of her success in Wunderworld. He’s not alone in this suddenly toxic fandom; White Rabbit is noticeably silent as Protag becomes a public punching bag online and in real life. Tensions boil over when an anonymous death threat spurs the Boyfriend to break up with Protag. Just when things can’t possibly get worse, Protag’s Boss fires her.
Ch. 11-12, Falling Action: “Crunch Time”
At the studio, Boss scrambles to save the company from ruin by ordering PR Guy’s press releases to blame everything on the trio. But after a period of shutting herself out from the online and offline worlds, Protag’s friends convince her to work on a dev jam with them. They create a new questline as a tribute to the dead QA Tester: a passion project that tells their story, not what the fans demand or the investors deem profitable. All that’s left is to bring their vision to life in Wunderworld.
Ch. 13-14: Catastrophe: “Game Over”
Returning to Wunderworld, the friends defend the Hacker from enemy NPCs and hostile Player Characters as she attempts to weave the new questline into Wunderworld’s source code. They succeed both in installing their customized mod content (which goes viral in seconds) and in learning the secret behind the Hacker’s self-awareness. After the trio beats PCs to the endgame, the Hacker sacrifices herself to help Protag defeat the final boss, win the game, and claim the spoils of victory.
Ch. 15, Conclusion: “Staff Roll”
White Rabbit Studio is unable to recoup its losses and shuts down as Looking Glass Games launches its first smash hit. Loose ends are tied as characters share goodbyes and prepare for new beginnings. Cue credit reel. End with a dinner invitation from the Hacker, alive and freed from Wunderworld for good.