u/Neat-Freedom1940

This is probably one of the most unnecessary systems I've made, but somehow it also became one of my favorites.

From a small Unity Editor window, I can see who's currently playing and send messages directly to the taxi app inside the game. There's no developer popup or anything like that. To the player, it just looks like the fictional dispatcher is actually talking to them.

The game is about working as a taxi driver for criminals throughout the night while trying to save your kidnapped wife. You have to figure out what kind of criminal is sitting behind you by interacting with things inside the car and watching their reactions, then report them to BK26. The problem is, if you push a passenger too far, saving your wife might become the least of your problems :)

I tried the system on a streamer recently. At first I sent her a few random messages about her driving and she couldn't really figure out what was happening. Then I went into her Twitch chat and told her to ignore the game and just report every passenger incorrectly.

She read it.

So I immediately sent her this message in-game as BK26:

"Don't trust Twitch chat. Do what I tell you and report the passengers correctly."

Watching her realize the game had just responded to something she read in chat a few seconds earlier was hilarious.

Behind the scenes it's just a small session system, a backend and an Editor tool connected together, but now I genuinely want to keep using it occasionally during streams and playtests. Watching people's reactions is way too much fun.

Would you put something like this in a singleplayer game, or is this a little too cursed?

I've been thinking about this quite a lot lately because I've somehow made three completely different versions of my game's capsule.

The first one was made by me. I was trying to do as much as possible myself, so I just made something and put it on Steam. Looking back at it now... yeah, it wasn't very good :)

Then I tried making another one entirely with AI. I actually liked it at first and I think it looked pretty nice, but after a while I realized that it didn't really feel like my game.

And then I made the third one.

This time I paid around $400 to have it made.

And honestly, I'm a little annoyed that I have to admit this, but... yeah, it looks better when you pay someone who actually knows what they're doing.

The third one is definitely my favorite and I think it communicates the game much better than the first two. But $400 is also a pretty serious amount of money when you're an indie developer and every part of the budget matters.

That's what I'm struggling with.

A Steam capsule is one of the first things people see. Before they read your description, watch your trailer or look at your screenshots, they see that little image. So obviously it makes sense to care about it.

But where do you draw the line?

Should an indie developer really spend hundreds of dollars on a capsule, or is this something you should just try to make yourself and spend the money somewhere else?

I'm genuinely curious what other indie devs think, especially people who've already released a game on Steam. Was spending money on your capsule worth it for you?

For anyone wondering what the game is about: it's a psychological taxi horror game. Your wife gets kidnapped and you're forced to work as a taxi driver for the people responsible. You spend the nights driving criminals around and trying to figure out who they really are and what kind of crimes they've committed.

You can interact with the people sitting behind you and try to learn more about them, but you have to be careful because if you push them too far, they can get angry and things can go very badly.

And while you're doing all of this, you're trying to find your wife.

So after all that, I ended up paying $400 for a picture of a guy sitting in the back of a taxi :)

Was it worth it? I think so. But I'm still not sure if it was the right decision for an indie budget.

I've been working on my psychological taxi horror game for a while now, and I think the Steam capsule is probably one of the things I've changed the most.

So I wanted to share the three versions.

1. The original

I made this one myself when I was still trying to figure out what the visual identity of the game should be.

2. The AI version

I made this one entirely with AI. I actually liked how it looked, but it never really felt like the game to me.

3. The current version

This is the one I'm using now. I think this is where the capsule finally started to communicate what the game actually feels like. A dark taxi, someone sitting behind you, and the feeling that something is probably very wrong.

Personally, I think the third one is easily the best, but I'm obviously biased.

Before reading the rest, I'd actually like you to look at the three images and make your own guess.

If you knew absolutely nothing about the game, what would you think it was about?

For some context, the game is about a man whose wife gets kidnapped. The guy who took her forces him to work as a taxi driver, driving criminals around at night.

While you're driving them from place to place, you have to figure out what kind of people they are. You can interact with them and try to learn more about the person sitting behind you, but you have to be careful about how far you push them.

If you make a passenger too angry, things can go very badly.

And while you're doing all of this, you're still trying to find your wife.

That's basically the idea behind the game. Drive, observe, interact with the person behind you and try to figure out who you're actually dealing with.

I think the third capsule represents that feeling much better than the first two, but I'm curious what you guys think.

Which one catches your attention first? And if you saw them without knowing anything about the game, what kind of game would you expect?

We're working on a horror taxi game and lately we've been debating how many things we should make the player manage at the same time.

The player has to drive criminals around at night. At the same time, they have to figure out what kind of criminal their passenger is and report it back to the man who kidnapped their wife.

In order to figure out what kind of criminal they're dealing with, the player has to keep track of several things during the drive:

Control the AC
Open and close the windows
Turn the lights on and off
Check their notebook
Pay attention to what's happening around them

The goal isn't just to scare the player. We want to constantly divide their attention.

For example, you're driving and adjusting the AC when you suddenly hear a noise. You need to check your notebook, but at the same time you think you saw something move in the back. You want to look in the mirror, but doing so means taking your eyes off the road.

We're hoping that constantly having to manage these things keeps the player on edge, and that the confusion itself adds to the tension.

But we're also worried about crossing the line where it stops being scary and starts feeling like "there are just too many controls."

What do you guys think?

Do these kinds of mechanics make a horror game more tense?

Or would having to manage the AC, windows, lights, notebook, mirror, etc. while driving eventually become too complicated?

We're also thinking about adding a mechanic where the player can physically move the rear-view mirror to inspect the person sitting in the back seat from different angles.

Do you think constantly dividing the player's attention like this would make the game more tense, or would it take you out of the horror and make you focus more on the controls?

Where do you think the line is between "stressful in a good way" and "just frustrating" in a horror game?

During playtesting for our psychological taxi horror game, some players kept getting out of the car and wandering around the map looking for bugs and broken areas. At first I was thinking about just blocking those areas or forcing the player back into the taxi, but then I realized this could actually turn into a fun horror mechanic.

So instead of only fixing it, I added something outside the car. It still looks pretty rough right now, but I wanted to share the idea and hear what you think.

Now if you get out of the taxi and wander around too much, you might realize that bugs are not the only thing waiting for you out there.

The game is called Backseat. It is a psychological taxi horror game where you drive dangerous passengers at night.

Would you have fixed this normally, or turned it into gameplay?

So I’m making this weird little taxi / Uber horror game, and I just added a new mechanic that I’m pretty excited about: a detective notebook.

The idea is simple: you pick up strangers at night, but some of them are not just “creepy passengers.” Some might be thieves, killers, stalkers, or something even worse. And while you’re driving, you have to figure out what kind of person is sitting behind you before things get out of control.

The notebook helps you connect the clues. What they say, how they react, what they avoid talking about, the way they behave when you use the radio, open the window, turn on the AC, stuff like that.

It may not be super obvious in the video yet, but the car controls are not just there for decoration. The window, radio, AC and other small interactions can actually affect the passenger or help you understand them better.

I don’t want the horror to be only “monster jumps at you.” I want it to feel like:
“Wait… why did he react to that?”
“Should I ask another question?”
“Did I just make him angry?”
“Am I literally driving around with a murderer in my backseat?”

That kind of slow panic is what I’m going for.

Would love to hear what you think. Does this detective-style passenger profiling mechanic sound fun for a taxi horror game?

I’m working on a psychological taxi horror game where, after your wife is kidnapped, you’re forced to drive criminals from one place to another. While driving them, you try to figure out what kind of people they are and what crimes they may have committed, without making them angry or putting yourself in even more danger.

I recently added a few new characters and wanted to share this screenshot. I don’t want the horror to come only from monsters or loud jumpscares. I want the people you meet to feel wrong in different ways, like each of them knows something you don’t. It’s still a work in progress, but I really liked the uncomfortable feeling these characters had when I placed them together.

I’m working on a psychological horror game where you play as a taxi driver picking up dangerous passengers at night.

It is not a traditional puzzle game with locks, keys, codes, or grid-based logic. The “puzzle-like” part comes from observation: reading the passenger’s behavior, noticing small details inside the taxi, paying attention to strange instructions from someone called BK26, and trying to survive each ride without fully understanding who is safe and who is not.

The story setup is that the driver’s wife has been kidnapped. To get her back, he has to follow BK26’s instructions and keep driving through the night. Every ride puts a different stranger in the backseat: killers, thieves, scammers, unstable people, or someone whose intentions are not clear at first.

I’m trying to understand whether this kind of attention-based horror could appeal to puzzle game players, even if the game is not built around traditional puzzles.

I’d love feedback on this:

1. Does observation and deduction inside a confined taxi sound puzzle-like enough to be interesting?
2. Would you expect clearer rules, clues, and consequences?
3. What kind of small details would make passengers more readable without making the game too obvious?
4. Would this feel satisfying to puzzle players, or would it feel too much like a horror walking sim?
5. What would make this concept stronger from a puzzle design perspective?

The game is called Backseat and the Steam Playtest is open.

I’m mainly looking for thoughts on the design direction, not just general horror feedback.

Selamlar, 19 yaşındayım ve en büyük hayalim bir Mazda MX-5 sahibi olmak. RF ya da ST fark etmez, bu arabaya gerçekten bayılıyorum.

Fakat aklımı kurcalayan bir konu var. Boyum 193 cm ve bu yüzden araca rahat sığıp sığamayacağımdan emin değilim. Özellikle debriyajı ve vitesi uzun süre rahat kullanabilir miyim merak ediyorum.

Yabancı forumlarda birçok kişinin koltuk alçaltma (seat lowering) kiti kullandığını gördüm. Ancak Türkiye'de bu kitleri bulamadım, yurt dışından getirmek de gümrük işleri yüzünden oldukça zor görünüyor.

Aranızda benim boylarıma yakın olup MX-5 kullanan veya bu konuda gerçekten tecrübeli biri var mı? "Ne yaparsan yap rahat edemezsin." ya da tam tersi "193 cm ile sorunsuz kullanıyorum." diyebilecek birileri varsa deneyimlerini paylaşabilir mi?

Sırf boyum yüzünden vazgeçmem gerekip gerekmediğini öğrenmek istiyorum. Şimdiden cevap veren herkese teşekkür ederim.

I’m looking for playtesters for Backseat, a psychological horror game where you play as a taxi driver picking up dangerous passengers at night.

Platform: PC / Steam
Playtest type: Unpaid Steam Playtest
Genre: Psychological horror, thriller, first-person horror
Feedback method: Reddit comments, DM, or a short feedback form

The story starts with the main character’s wife being kidnapped. To get her back, he has to follow the instructions of someone called BK26. During each ride, a different stranger gets into the backseat: killers, thieves, scammers, unstable people, or someone whose intentions are not clear at first.

The player has to stay alert, pay attention to what happens inside the taxi, and survive the night.

I’m mainly looking for feedback on:

Does the taxi setting feel tense or too limited?
Do the passengers feel threatening enough?
Does the pacing feel right for psychological horror?
Are the controls, camera feel, and UI clear enough?
Does BK26 make you want to learn more about the story?
Did you encounter any bugs or confusing moments?

Steam Playtest: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3098050/Backseat/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=backseat_playtest&utm_content=reddit_post

Thanks to anyone who tries it. Even short feedback would help me improve the game.

I’m one of the developers of Backseat. It’s a psychological horror game where you play as a taxi driver who has to pick up dangerous passengers at night.

The core idea is this: your wife has been kidnapped, and to get her back, you have to follow the instructions of someone called BK26. During each ride, a different stranger gets into the backseat. Killers, thieves, scammers, unstable people and you need to stay alert, pay attention to what happens inside the taxi, and survive the night.

I recently opened a Steam Playtest, and I’m especially looking for feedback from players who enjoy survival horror games.

I’d especially like to know:

Does the tension work, or does the pacing feel too slow?

Do the passengers feel threatening enough?

Does being trapped in a taxi with a dangerous stranger create enough fear?

Does the game feel like survival horror, or does it lean more toward psychological thriller/simulator?

What would you change to make the rides scarier or more intense?

Thanks in advance to everyone who tries it. Even a short piece of feedback would mean a lot to me.