Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs narrative won't be as stripped-back as Dear Esther's

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will retain some elements of developer Dan Pinchbeck's last adventure, Dear Esther, but won't be the same kind of game.

Thechineseroom's atmospheric adventure has its fans, but some detractors were unhappy with its exploratory nature, preferring more overly narrated experiences. Speaking at GDC Europe 2012, Pinchbeck was asked whether Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs would be the same kind of game.

As reported by Joystiq, Pinchbeck said A Machine for Pigs will obey the conventions of a "classic horror story". That said, the developer will use some of what was learned during Dear Esther's development.

"What we're going to try and do is we're going to try and keep the lessons that we've learned in terms of not funneling the plot down, not being really explicit with the player about what's going on, using inference, using suggestion," he said.

Pinchbeck said thechineseroom is aiming to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for players to piece together the story for themselves, or even write their own stories from evidence presented, because it works so well in horror.

"You pretty much can't represent anything in a horror game that's going to be more scary than what the player thinks you're going to represent, and the moment you actually show it, you've lost an awful lot of the power you've got to scare them," he said.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will release in 2013. It's a follow up to Frictional's terrifying 2010 effort, and will be published by the independent company. Thechineseroom is also working on a game called Everyone's Gone to the Rapture.