Grave Shift

Grave Shift

About the Game

Grave Shift is a satirical, chaotic co-op management game set in the year 2050, where humanity’s obsession with ultra-processed foods has created a new problem: bodies no longer decompose naturally. Overcrowded cemeteries have turned burial from a sacred ritual into a logistical nightmare, forcing undertakers to chemically treat the dead before laying them to rest.

Players step into the role of robotic graveyard workers tasked with scanning, mixing, burying, and resetting graves before the backlog spirals out of control. The game blends humour with dark ecological critique, using exaggerated visuals and frantic gameplay to make players laugh while reflecting on the hidden costs of modern consumption.

Grave Shift thrives on teamwork, communication, and just enough chaos to keep things unpredictable. Failures are funny, successes are satisfying, and every round is a test of cooperation under pressure.

This prototype has been developed as part of a speculative design project, showcasing a condensed 3–5 minute experience where all systems are active at once.

Controls

For the prototype, Grave Shift is designed around keyboard sharing, so two players can play together on one machine.
We assumed access to a full keyboard (with numpad and arrow keys), since this allows more physical space between players.

• Player 1 (Left Side)

  • Movement: WASD

  • Pickup/Putdown: F

  • Action(use): G

  • Scan Body: H

  • Dash: L-Shift

• Player 2 (Right Side)

  • Movement: Arrow Keys

  • Pickup/Putdown: 1

  • Action(use): 2

  • Scan Body: 3

  • Dash: 0

• General

  • Tasks are tied to proximity. Stand near a station (scanner, cauldron, grave, etc.) and press your action key to interact.

  • Visual feedback (colours, icons, body tinting, and mound stages) indicates task progress and errors.

For the full release, we plan to add:

• Key rebinding for accessibility and personalisation

• Controller support for local and online play