Where Dolls Hang: Creating a Horror Game Inspired by Mexican Folklore

Introduction

Hello there. My name is Ryan, and I'm the solo developer behind Steelkrill Studio. Ever since I was young, I've been fascinated by video games and movies, which inspired me to start learning game development at an early age. Since I didn't have many opportunities where I lived at the time, I taught myself mostly by watching YouTube videos and reading online articles.

I started early, creating and selling 3D assets and models, and around 2020 I downloaded the Unity game engine and began learning it. At the time, I was working a full-time and a part-time job, and after every shift I'd come home and spend long hours working on my first game. It was exhausting, but I always looked forward to it because I genuinely enjoyed the process. 

I eventually released my first game on Steam in 2021, a third-person wave shooter called Customers From Hell. It didn't perform particularly well, and I seriously considered giving up. Instead, I decided to create something I genuinely loved — horror games — and gave it one more shot.

That's when I started developing Trenches, which came out in 2022. After the game was released, the feedback was incredible, and players really enjoyed it, which motivated me to keep improving the game over the months. That's when I realized there was an audience for the type of horror games I wanted to make. At the time, since I was balancing game development with two jobs, I decided to take the risk of becoming a full-time indie developer, which had always been a dream of mine.

The development of Where Dolls Hang started back in December 2025. I also wanted to explore Mexican folklore and culture, creating something different from the usual haunted houses or forests. Setting the game in Mexico felt like the perfect choice because of its rich history, folklore, and unique atmosphere, and I want to create a horror experience that feels fresh and memorable.

Where Dolls Hang

My vision for Where Dolls Hang is to create a horror experience that feels unsettling, atmospheric, and different from the usual haunted house or forest setting. I was mainly inspired by a documentary about the real-life Island of the Dolls. I found the story and the location fascinating, especially the dolls hanging from trees, and I was surprised that the location had not been explored more often in games and movies.

What makes the project unique is its Mexican setting and detective investigation. Players examine bodies, search for clues, solve mysteries, craft weapons, and survive the enemies that haunt them. Throughout the game, you'll explore creepy environments, including detailed interiors, while also discovering elements of Mexican folklore. The combination of these environments, the hanging dolls, and the disturbing atmosphere gives the game its own identity, in my opinion.

Another feature that sets the game apart is the inclusion of real-world media that players can discover during their exploration. For example, players can find VHS tapes containing actual full-length public domain films, such as Night of the Living Dead, and choose to watch them from start to finish before continuing. In addition, players can also discover authentic real-life photographs hidden throughout the game. These details help blur the line between fiction and reality, making the world feel more believable and immersive while adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

The Story of the Game

Where Dolls Hang will actually tell two connected stories. One follows a family as they uncover the origins of the events surrounding the dolls, while the other follows a detective searching for his missing daughter. Players will experience both sides of the story, with the game switching between psychological horror and survival horror. Think of it as something like what Resident Evil Requiem did.

I usually describe the game as a mixture of Silent Hill, Outlast, The Forest, and Resident Evil. Players can expect exploration, puzzle-solving, disturbing environments, survival elements, and a strong focus on atmosphere and storytelling. The game will appeal to fans of psychological and survival horror, especially players who enjoy uncovering lore, searching for clues, and slowly piecing together a mystery. It will also explore Mexican folklore and culture, which plays an important role in the world and story.

Inspirations and Visual Style

Absolutely. While the game isn't based on the Island of the Dolls one-to-one, it is heavily inspired by both the real location and Mexican folklore. I first learned about the island through a documentary, and I was immediately fascinated by its history and atmosphere. The idea stuck with me for years, and I always knew I wanted to create a horror game inspired by it.

Rather than recreating the island exactly as it is, I wanted to blend its eerie imagery with Mexican folklore and my own story to create something new while still capturing what made the real place so unsettling.

The game has a realistic visual style with a strong focus on creepy environments, detailed interiors, and an unsettling atmosphere. I wanted the locations to feel believable while still having a disturbing and almost surreal quality.

The idea mostly began with my fascination with the Island of the Dolls. From there, it gradually evolved into a larger horror project that combines detective gameplay, survival horror, and Mexican folklore.

Production Pipeline

The game is being developed entirely in Unity 6. My workflow usually starts with writing the story from beginning to end so I have a clear direction for the project. Although the story may change here and there during development, having a "complete" story from start to finish gives me a solid foundation on how I should carry on with the gameplay.

Once the story is outlined, I plan the different levels and environments the game will feature. From there, I begin building the gameplay features, creating the environments, and gradually implementing the mechanics, lighting, and other systems before moving on to polishing and optimization.

Most of the 3D assets are created in Blender since everything needs to be custom-made. I also use other tools such as Photoshop and Gimp to edit textures, photos, and images, and some other programs such as FL Studio to create and edit sound effects, Sony Vegas to edit the VHS footage featured in the game, and VirtualDJ to experiment with different audio effects and mixes.

Psychological Elements and the Supernatural

One of my main goals was to make players constantly question what was real and what wasn't. I didn't want to rely only on jump scares or enemies. Instead, I wanted to focus on building tension slowly through the environment, sound design, and unsettling events that gradually become more intense as the story progresses.

The supernatural elements are inspired by Mexican folklore and the mystery surrounding the Island of the Dolls, but they're also tied closely to the story. As the player uncovers more clues and learns what happened, the psychological and supernatural aspects begin to blend together, making it difficult to tell whether the horrors are real or a result of the characters' state of mind.

I think that balance makes the experience much more immersive. The game also features a camera system that allows players to record events and see in the darkness. While using the camera, it will also come with a risk, as you are unable to use any weapons, leaving you vulnerable to threats.

The Characters

Creating the characters started with thinking about how they fit into the story rather than just their appearance. I wanted each of them to feel believable and have a reason for being in the world, especially since the game tells the story from a different perspective. When it came to superstition and folklore, I spent a lot of time researching Mexican legends, traditions, and locations. Rather than recreating them exactly as they are, I used them as inspiration and blended them with my own original story to create something unique.

Creating environments that change has probably been one of the biggest technical challenges. I wanted locations to evolve as the story progresses, becoming more unsettling and distorted to reflect the psychological horror. To make the world feel even more believable, I am also using real photographs with permission to include throughout the game, which you can find around. Blending these real images into the environments adds another layer of realism and helps make certain moments feel more personal and unsettling, in my opinion.

Current Development Process

The game is still actively in development, and right now my main focus is expanding the story, polishing gameplay systems, and making sure every area feels unique while keeping the game fun to play. Since I'm a Solo Developer, I usually work on one feature at a time before moving on to the next. From the beginning, my main design pillars have been atmosphere, exploration, detective investigation, and horror. I wanted players to feel like they're slowly uncovering a mystery rather than simply moving from one scare to the next.

One of the biggest technical challenges has been creating believable environments while keeping the game well optimized. Since the game uses Unity's HDRP, achieving realistic visuals without sacrificing performance has been an important part of development. Another challenge has been balancing the investigation mechanics with the horror gameplay, making sure players have time to search for clues and solve mysteries while still feeling constantly under pressure.

Conclusion

My biggest piece of advice is to never give up. Just because something doesn't work the first time doesn't mean it's the end. Game development is a challenging industry, especially as an indie developer. You're not only responsible for making the game, but also for marketing it, building a community, and handling everything in between.

I'd also say: make the game you want to play. If you're passionate about what you're creating, it will show in the final product. Making games makes me happy, and seeing the community play them and share their feedback makes it all worthwhile in my opinion. Even though I've had countless sleepless nights, plenty of headaches, and worries about whether any of my games would ever earn back the time and money I'd invested into them, it's all worth it in the end.

If even a few people have fun playing one of my games, then I already feel I've succeeded. As long as I can keep creating games, have the support of an amazing community, and earn enough to support my family, that's all I could ask for. When I started learning, I spent most of my time reading online, experimenting, and watching YouTube tutorials. One of the biggest for me was watching Brackeys, whose tutorials helped me understand the basics of game development with Unity.

That is definitely a good start. As for horror specifically, I get a lot of my inspiration from horror movies, documentaries, and real-life stories. I like reading a lot, so taking those ideas and putting my own twist on them to create something original is something I love to do.

Ryan Portelli, Founder of Steelkrill Studio

Interview conducted by Stephanie Almogabar