Degica, the publisher of RPG Maker, are holding a game making contest to celebrate National Game Development Month. The rules are deceptively simple: spend a month making an hour long game in any genre — the winner gets a cosy $10,000. Last week, I said I wanted to take a break from game development, but then I stumbled upon Degica’s announcement thread on the RPG Maker forums quite by accident and I thought to myself: “a game in a month? Hell, even I can do that!”

In between bursts of working on Blood Lake, I’ve slowly been putting together a contest entry. Here’s what I’ve noticed: working on a short game in specific time frame is fun. I’m actually enjoying working towards a deadline and I’m loving that I can spend time just polishing the game without having to pad out the gameplay or story first. Sure, it’s only an hour long game, but it’s probably going to be my last one, so there’s no reason not to pull out all the stops, right?

Mythos: The Beginning is a survival horror/adventure role playing game. Set in London in 1924, Mythos tasks you with creating your own paranormal investigator from scratch and guiding them through a frightening exploration of the infamous Harborough Asylum. Three young university students have vanished while attempting to conduct a scientific survey of this dreaded place, and it’s up to you to find them! Throughout the night you’ll discover that Harborough Asylum’s reputation is more than an urban legend, and you’ll have to fight for your life against otherworldly Lovecraftian foes.

You can check out some early screenshots here.