In LOUGAWOU, the house is not a backdrop: it is the main character. The whole game takes place within its walls, its courtyard and its hallways. So it deserved to be built like a real place, not like a video game level.
Architecture that tells Haiti
The great mansion draws from traditional Haitian houses: the wrap-around galleries, the wooden louvered shutters, the high ceilings designed for the heat, the inner courtyard where life happens. These are places many Haitians will recognize immediately, and that most players will never have seen in a game.
Every room was designed around its real function: you do not walk through "levels", you walk through a living room, a kitchen, bedrooms, a study. That is what makes the exploration believable, and it is also what makes it unsettling once the house changes.
Day and night
The mansion lives twice. Before the fifth theft, it is silent, almost welcoming. After it, the light changes, doors no longer quite lead where they should, and every corner becomes a potential hiding spot, for you or for what is looking for you.
More from the building site in a future devlog.