Project Pride

🎮️ Game Title: Persian Corridor 🎮️

Genre: 3D Third-Person Stealth / Narrative Adventure
Setting: WWII Iran (Persian Corridor) – A child’s struggle through war, myth, and grief.

Pitch

[Elevator Pitch] A stealth-driven journey where a grieving Iranian boy escapes war into Persian legends—but the longer he hides in fantasy, the more his trauma hunts him in the shape of nightmares from Zoroastrian mythos.

The Experience:

Play as Kurosh, a young boy in Iran, stealing medicine to save his village from leprosy and foreign troops. To survive, he retreats into Ferdowsi’s epic tales, imagining himself as the hero Rostam, but every second spent in fantasy drags him into a nightmare world where soldiers become demons, and his grief threatens to consume him.

• Stealth with a Twist: Enemy AI "shrinks" in Kurosh’s fantasy world (easier to avoid), but overusing this power forces him into longer, scarier nightmare segments.

• Family Over War: Guide Kurosh’s rebellious elder brother, Kaveh, through interactive cutscenes... your dialogue choices shape their bond and the village’s fate.

• Culture as Power: Persian mythology isn’t just lore, it’s Kurosh’s coping mechanism. Lose yourself in it too much, and risk a tragic ending where he abandons his family.

• Historical Heart: Based on real events in the Persian Corridor, where civilians starved to feed Allied troops, but seen through a child’s eyes, where love and myth blur with survival.

Tone & Inspirations:

• This War of Mine’s civilian survival + GRIS’s emotional journey + Sucker Punch’s reality-bending escapes.

• A story of hope and love, where a child’s innocence, Persian culture, and family bonds shine a path against war’s darkness.

HOOK

• Untold History: Explores WWII’s Persian Corridor, a side of war games and history ignore.

• Myth as Mechanics: Fantasy isn’t just aesthetic; it’s how Kurosh processes trauma.

• Family, Not Fighters: No guns, no glory, just a boy trying to hold his home together.

Platforms: PC (Steam/Epic) | Price: £7.95 | Release: Target 2027 (Nowruz)

Core Vision

Persian Corridor is a third-person stealth game set in WWII Iran, where players control Kurosh, the youngest son of a village chief, in the days following his mother’s death from leprosy. As occupying forces demand the village’s dwindling food and medicine, Kurosh’s family fractures:

• [Denial] → The Father (Chief): Urges patience to his family and his village ("This too shall pass"), refusing to rebel.

• [Anger] → The Elder Son: Secretly rallies village youth to sabotage the occupiers.

• [Bargaining] → Kurosh (Player): Sneaks into enemy bases to steal supplies, desperate to heal both his village and his family’s grief.

The Twist

Kurosh copes by escaping into the heroic myths of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, imagining himself as Rostam to brave enemy camps. But these fantasies come at a cost: overuse plunges him into Zoroastrian nightmare realms (where soldiers morph into Daevas), and risks permanent detachment from reality.

Gameplay Pillars

• Stealth with Purpose: Every stolen medicine jar or food ration directly aids the village’s survival.

• Myth as Double-Edged Sword: Brief empowerment in fantasy vs. escalating horror in nightmares.

• Family at War: Dialogue choices with the father/brother subtly influence their conflict and the fate of the youngest family member (player).

Why It Stands Out

• Civilian WWII: No battles; just a child’s quiet resistance.

• Persian Culture as Narrative: Grief mirrors Iran’s occupation, loss, defiance, and fragile hope.

• Mechanics = Metaphors: Stealing isn’t just gameplay, it’s Kurosh’s bargaining with grief.

"In a world where adults choose fight or flight, a child steals back hope, one ration at a time."

Themes [Essence of the game]

Before we continue...

Reminder of the 5 stages of Grief [Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance]

1. Family as Fractured by Grief

• Father (Denial): As village chief, he buries himself in work, insisting "This too shall pass", ignoring both occupiers and his sons’ pain.

• Elder Son (Anger): Channels grief into sabotaging soldiers, risking the village’s safety.

• Kurosh (Bargaining): Steals supplies, believing "If I fix this, Mum might return." His mythic fantasies reflect childlike magical thinking.

2. War as a Secondary Antagonist

• The real conflict isn’t soldiers vs. villagers, but occupation/survival vs. healing:

  • Village needs medicine/food for leprosy → Army confiscates it for troops

  • Kurosh’s thefts are literal bargaining with grief.

3. Mythology as Trauma Response

• Fantasy World (Shahnameh): Kurosh imagines himself as Rostam | heroic, capable. → Coping mechanism

• Nightmare World (Daevas): Soldiers become demons; reflects his guilt/shame. → trauma manifestation

• Mechanical Stakes: Overusing fantasy risks Kurosh’s detachment (fail state: depression).

4. Acceptance as Victory

• For Kurosh: Realises stealing won’t revive his mother, but can save his family.

• For Player: Success isn’t "winning" the war, it’s the family finding each other again.

Depression/Acceptance explained in narrative arcs

"Can a child steal enough hope to mend a broken family?"

Historical Context

1. The Persian Corridor (1941–1945)

• A vital Allied supply route through Iran to the Soviet Union, established after Anglo-Soviet invasion.

• Real-life impact: Occupying forces confiscated food/medicine, leading to famine and disease (like leprosy) among civilians.

• Game’s tie-in: Villagers aren’t resisting for ideology, they’re starving while feeding troops.

2. Civilian Experience

• No "front lines": War meant railway seizures, resource hoarding, and forced labour.

• Leprosy crisis: Historically plausible, malnutrition and poor sanitation spiked disease.

3. The Orphanage (2019 Film) Connection

• Like the film, game explores occupation’s invisible wounds:

  • Children bearing adult burdens.

  • Authority figures powerless to protect.

  • Key difference: mythic lens lets trauma manifest as Shahnameh/Daevas.

4. Why This Matters

• Untold history: Most WWII games focus on Europe; this highlights Iran’s suffering.

• Grounds the fantasy: Even Kurosh’s myths reflect real coping mechanisms under occupation.

"Iran lost 40% of its grain to Allied troops in 1942"

Mechanics

Core Gameplay Mechanics

1. World-Switching System

• Trigger: Press Q to toggle between:

  • Real World:

    • Harsh, grounded stealth with soldiers, environmental puzzles, and physical obstacles.

  • Fantasy World:

    • 7-second max limit per use.

    • Obstacles transform (e.g., logs become steps, enemies ignore you).

    • Visuals: Vibrant Shahnameh-inspired palette; screen edges pulse gold (1Hz heartbeat rhythm).

  • Nightmare World:

    • Forced 1:1 time penalty (7 sec fantasy = 7 sec nightmare).

    • Obstacles turn hazardous (e.g., logs → lava); Daevas actively hunt.

    • Overuse: Exceeding 7 sec doubles nightmare time.

2. Obstacle Design

• Types:

  Real World	Fantasy Solution	Nightmare Consequence
  Soldier patrol	Enemies fade to shadows	Daevas spawn
  Locked gate	Gate vanishes	Gate bleeds poison
  Collapsed rubble	Rubble becomes steps	Rubble crumbles to lava

3. Progression & Fail States

• Sanity System:

  • Repeated overuse of fantasy risks permanent detachment (Kurosh abandons family in endings).

  • Stretch Goal: Nightmare effects "leak" into real world (e.g., lingering fog, whispered verses).

• Cultural Touch:

  • 7-second limit mirrors:

    • Haft Khan (Rostam’s 7 trials).

    • Slows pacing to emphasize mythic weight.

Example Playthrough Snippet

1. Real World: Confronted by a locked gate and soldiers.

2. Fantasy (7 sec): Gate disappears; soldiers ignore you.

3. Nightmare (7 sec): Gate reopens as a Daeva mouth; must sprint through before lava spreads.

4. Fail: Stuck in nightmare? Restart checkpoint with altered dialogue ("You’re not thinking clearly...").

A minute of Gameplay

Stealth game: Player gets to an obstacle,

[that being an enemy AI they want to pass around or climb a wall]

Player presses Q →

| World changes to fantasy based on Persian Mythology, obstacle is simpler to overcome,

| They overcome it and press Q again or run out of 7 second timer →

| World changes again to Nightmare realm based on Persian and Zoroastrian Mythology, obstacles are harder to deal with here.

→ | If more than 7 seconds in fantasy, they spend 14 seconds in nightmare realm.

Narrative Point: His mother used to read Adventures of Rostam: Rostam and the White Div (Book Below) which is a famous kids book in Iran!

Character Cheat Sheet

Technical Overview

• Genre: 3rd person 3D, Narrative-Driven Stealth / Historical Fantasy, Mythological and Cultural.

• Target audience:

  • Demographics:

    • Age: 16–35 (emotionally mature players drawn to grief narratives).

    • Gender: All (focus on universal themes of family/cultural identity).

  • Regional Focus:

    • Primary: UK/EU (historical game markets).

    • Secondary: US/Middle East (cultural appeal).

• Platforms:

  • Launch: PC (Steam/Epic) – Windows 10/11.

  • Post-Launch: Nintendo Switch (if funding permits; emphasize handheld appeal for indie narrative games).

• Monetisation:

  • £7.95 is the price of the game.

• Engine & Funding:

  • Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (Lumen/Nanite for fantasy-nightmare contrast).

  • Funding:

    • Crowdfunding (Kickstarter/Indiegogo) with playable demo.

    • Grants (Unreal Dev Grant, BFI, Creative Europe).

• Platforms & system requirements:

  • PC Windows 11 and plus (Win10 is ok)

  • Mac is not supported!

System Requirements (Estimated):

Project Scope

Development Team
(Current as of June 2025)

Engine Shift:

• Originally prototyped this game in Unity, now migrating to Unreal Engine 5 (Nanite/Lumen for mythic visuals, Epic Grant opportunities).

Call to Action:

"Want to shape a game blending Persian history with emotional stealth gameplay?

JOIN US! or just contact me." 😅 - @Hamie Nouri [Discord → KuraiSensei#7210]

Budget

Funding Avenues

1. Grants:

   • Unreal Dev Grant (priority).

   • Cultural grants (e.g., British Council, Iranian Arts Council).

2. Crowdfunding:

   • Kickstarter/Indiegogo post-vertical slice (Q1 2025).

3. Publisher Partnerships:

   • Targeting Expedition 33 (Philippines) or Whitethorn Games (narrative indie focus).

Risk Mitigation

• Loans: Last resort; only if <£20K secured by beta.

• Publisher Terms: Will retain creative control/IP ownership.

• Burn Rate:
  £20K covers 12 months of lean development (2 part-time devs).

• ROI:
  Break-even at ~2,000 sales (£7.95 price point).

"This version balances transparency with ambition"

Production Timeline

More detailed timeline will be available after core team members have been recruited.

(Pre-Production: June 2025 – Nowruz 2028 Release)

Key Persian Cultural Dates as Milestones

Contingency Plan

• If delayed: Shift launch to Yalda 2027 (additional year for polish).