PERSONAL PROJECT / GAME DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

A Kerala ghost story,
built to be played.

Mummy – The TharavaduFirst-person horror game · Android

A monsoon night in an old Kerala tharavadu. The lamps are going out, the rain will not stop, and something in the house is listening. I designed and built the whole game, from the first idea to its release on Google Play.

Watch the gameplay

Key art: the yakshi lunging out of the rain in the courtyard of the tharavadu, an oil lamp burning beside her

Role: Solo creator: design, development, art direction, sound
Built with: Unity, Blender, Meshy, an AI-assisted workflow
Released: Google Play, 2026 · plays offline, no ads

01 / THE IDEA

A piece of childhood, brought back to life.

Mummy began as a game for my cousins. When we were kids, we grew up hearing the story of a haunted tharavadu, and we have always loved playing horror games together. So I turned that story into a game we could play. Its ghosts come from the tales we were told: the yakshi in her ivory sari, the dead karanavar, the mischievous Kuttichathan and the shape-shifting Odiyan.

You have a few nights to get out. Unlock the main gate with three keys and a vettukathi, or finish the pooja at the shrine, and survive whatever the bells call to you.

02 / THE HOUSE

One tharavadu, built room by room.

The estate is the main character. I modelled the house and its grounds in Blender from my own reference pictures: carved gables and wooden shutters, laterite and lime plaster, red-oxide floors, the kulam's bathing steps and a cellar under the store room. Every shot below is taken in the game.

The tharavadu's front porch at night, with its carved wooden gable and lit windows — The front porch, with its carved gable.

The inner courtyard, with an oil lamp below wooden shutters — The nalukettu's inner courtyard.

The hall, looking through a doorway to the courtyard — The hall, looking out to the courtyard.

The kulam, the bathing pond, under a wooden arch in the rain — The kulam. Walk down its steps, if you dare.

03 / THE HUNTERS

Each one finds you in a different way.

The game is about listening and hiding rather than fighting. Every hunter has its own sense, so each one asks for a different way of moving through the house.

The Lady hears

Her anklet bells give her away, and running feet on wooden floors bring her straight to you.

The Karanavar walking across the courtyard

The Karanavar smells

The dead elder rises on later nights and follows your trail. Out in the rain, it washes away.

The Odiyan changes shape

A man in the fields who becomes a black bull when he sees you in the open. Step aside at the last moment.

Something in the kulam

Linger at the water's edge and it notices you.

The Watcher sees. An eye opens on screen as he grows suspicious.
Kuttichathan steals. He snatches what you carry and hides it in the cellar.

04 / GAMEPLAY

A minute in the house.

Real gameplay, recorded from the Android version: the trail through the house, Kuttichathan's theft, hiding in an almirah, the Karanavar, the Odiyan's charge, the kulam and the Lady. Best with sound on.

Music: “Penumbra” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0.

The main menu over the porch, with the title Mummy – The Tharavadu — The main menu.

Gameplay with touch controls: two hunters in a lamp-lit corridor — Touch controls built for phones.

The Lady's jump scare — When the Lady catches you.

The in-game book with the objectives and the map — The book always says what to do next.

05 / THE BUILD

From prototype to the Play Store.

Prototype

A first version proved the idea: hunters with their own senses, hiding places and two ways out. It went through a closed test before its first release.

Rebuild in 3D

I rebuilt the game in Unity with the estate modelled in Blender, characters made from my own reference art, monsoon rain and lightning, and real recorded sound.

Ship and grow

Graphics that tune themselves to each phone, a store listing and promotion, and updates that added new hunters, a cellar and a new ending.

4 hunters and a thief, plus whatever is in the pond
2 ways out: the main gate or the pooja
10 playable cousins, each with a gift
4 difficulties, from Practice to Nightmare

The game contains jump scares and flashing lightning, and is not made for children.

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