Intention 

We wanted to recreate the childlike experience of being in a place that is both familiar and unfamiliar - familiar because the setting, at first glance, appears warm and home-like, unfamiliar because it is full of unsettling elements.

The attic where the protagonist twins Mabel and Dipper (from the cartoon Gravity Falls) stay was chosen as the setting for the virtual environment. We wanted to choose someplace peaceful and everyday to start the audience off with certain expectations - after all, a bedroom is a very normal place to be. This is contrasted with the fact that the twins' bedroom is in the attic, a location that is associated with the old, unusual or creepy. The stylization of the cartoon architecture further adds to this with the awkward positioning and the geometries of the wooden beams, along with the triangular framing of the scene. The cartoon itself deals with the weird and supernatural phenomena of Gravity Falls, where the events of the show take place, and follows the adventures of the two preteen twins as they not only contend with the mythological and supernatural but also confront their inner demons, such as the fear of growing up, and feelings of insecurity and inadequacy about one's relative immaturity to those around them.  A playground is not only a place for fun, but also a place where children learn to coexist with others and find a place for themselves among others. It is a sandbox in which one can experiment and learn from, and where one leaves to enter the "real world" and become an adult. This parallel with the attic made the choice easy, even as the idea was compelling for personal reasons.

By including creepy and unexpected elements in the virtual space, we broke the rule that a playground should strictly be a place for laughter. It can be argued that horror provides a playground of sorts, as people are attracted to horror as a form of amusement even as it causes fear and discomfort.

The sounds and background music were included to make a more immersive experience; they allow the 2D environment to stimulate the visual as well as auditory senses.