Gameplay

Blood and Brood begins its journey in a murky aquatic world, where the player controls a fragile mosquito larva struggling to survive and thrive.

 

In this dark and hostile environment, the larva must feed on detritus, zooplanketon and microscopic life to grow, while evading predators lurking in the depths; dragonfly nymphs, water scavengers, Tardigrades, and unseen dangers waiting in the shadows of the depths below.

 

Every choice in the water is about balance: risk diving deeper for nourishment or stay near the surface where predators can strike.

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Upon molting into a juvenile mosquito, the game transforms into a first-person flight simulator.

 

With an extremely short focal length and distorted field of vision, the player perceives the world in hyper-detailed close-ups, but objects are blurred in the distance, forcing reliance on evolved senses.

 

Heat signatures, carbon dioxide exhalations, and pheromone trails reveal both predators and potential hosts.

 

Navigation becomes a delicate dance between stealth, survival, timing and sacrifice.

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The hunt for blood introduces feeding mini-games, where the mosquito must land undetected and carefully inject its proboscis into mammalian skin searching for a vein of bloodmeal.

 

Success requires locating a capillary, delivering numbing agents, and withdrawing before the host detects movement. Each attempt carries risk and failure means injury or death.

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Finally, the game dives into the microscopic journey of the parasite carried within the mosquito. Once inside the host, the perspective shifts to a cellular scale. The parasite must navigate a labyrinth of capillaries, avoiding white blood cells that pursue it relentlessly, while searching for a critical site for replication.

 

From there, the parasite spreads and attempts to navigate back into the bloodstream, completing the cycle and granting the mosquito lineage new powers and adaptations.