Lead designer Rob McLachlan on Still Wakes The Deep’s approach to horror

Rob McLachlan entered The Chinese Room in 2018, carrying a healthy portfolio of horror game design, including the Silent Hill series (Origins and Shattered Memories) and the highly acclaimed Alien: Isolation. Initially joining the team that created action platformer Little Orpheus, he then stepped up to the role of lead designer for Still Wakes The Deep. Here, he discusses finding the balance between horror, realism and the games of The Chinese Room’s past.

What were the crucial lessons you learned from your previous experiences with horror games in terms of what makes them effective?

Horror is both a subjective and objective thing, and it also depends on your stage in life and your life experiences. There are things that other people find horrific, but may not interest me as someone responsible for designing horror games. The conclusion I’ve come to is that, for me, the atmosphere, the immersion, of being in another world in an extraordinary situation – and feeling your reaction to that – is the critical thing. And I think that’s really neat for Still Wakes The Deep because that’s exactly how we wrote our main character, Caz McLeary. He’s an ordinary person, and the reflection of his humanity in the horror is where I think the most interesting experiences lie.