On a Ghost Month night, deep within the watery, mist-veiled reaches of Jiangnan, lanterns flicker to life inside a long-abandoned sanctuary. The locals whisper a warning: "Gaze not into the temple waters, lest they reveal your past self." Your journey into the Reflection Temple begins the moment you push open those heavy, creaking doors.  

Inside, you will stumble upon the Scroll of Deliverance, a tattered manuscript left by an unknown hand. Yet, this fragmented text only wards off immediate doom; it offers no path to safety. Water wells that demand you look away, silent paper effigies, and cold altar offerings all harbor dark clues. 

A single backward glance, a hushed reply, or the slightest misstep can seal your fate. Simply evading the horrors lurking in the shadows will not save you. To escape, you must learn the temple's sinister rules.

In Chinese folklore, the seventh lunar month is feared as "Ghost Month." This is a time of ancestral veneration, food offerings, burning joss paper, and floating lanterns. But it is also bound by strict, spine-chilling taboos.  

We previously shared some of these reminders in our "Ghost Month Strangle Tales" on social media: do not do certain things, or suffer unspeakable consequences. These folk taboos only dictate what not to do, never explaining the dread that follows.  

This agonizing tension between a stern warning and the terrifying unknown inspired the core gameplay of Reflection Temple.

With this foundation, we wanted to translate these legendary folklore taboos into active player choices and consequences. We designed the level around two interconnected pillars:  

First: Folk Taboos. Turning around, answering disembodied voices, touching forbidden objects: these actions become life-or-death choices. To preserve the sense of mystery, we chose not to hand you a clean "safety manual." Instead, survival clues are fused with the taboos themselves. You must search the ruins to slowly piece together the rules, sometimes even triggering a taboo just to understand its terrible truth.  

Second: Ghost Month Rituals. This season is not just about spirits; it is also about honoring, feeding, guiding, and releasing the dead. Thus, the Reflection Temple is more than a deadly dungeon to escape. As you venture deeper, you will realize an unfinished ritual lingers within these walls. What is missing, and how do you complete it? The answers lie hidden in the shadows.  

To bring these invisible rules and rituals to life, we anchored them to tangible, haunting objects throughout the temple.

The offerings, lanterns, and paper effigies in the temple are all drawn from the customs of the Zhongyuan Festival. They do not just build atmosphere; they whisper warnings, reveal clues, and drive the ritual forward.  

Altar Offerings represent sustenance and respect for the deceased, traditionally set out for both ancestors and wandering, homeless spirits. Inside the temple, pay close attention to the quantity, state, and arrangement of these offerings. Some of our previous reminders from the "Ghost Month Strangle Tales" will echo here.  

Candles and lanterns serve to "guide the way." During the festival, people light incense and float water lanterns to guide wandering souls home. In the temple, your flame will illuminate the water, revealing hidden reflections. This ritual use of light is key to uncovering the truth.  

The paper effigies are inspired by the custom of burning paper items (joss paper, paper clothes, and houses) to send them to the afterlife. In the temple, these effigies may serve as decoys, vessels of memory, or containers for lost souls. You must interact with them to solve puzzles and piece together the tragedy that unfolded here.  

Are these items merely tools of worship, or are they cryptic warnings? What truths do they hide? We leave it to you, Wanderers, to discover.

Together, these taboos, rituals, and sacred objects form the heart of the Reflection Temple.  

When you first step inside, your only instinct may be to survive and escape. But as you delve deeper, the supernatural anomalies will begin to paint a tragic picture of the temple's past. Only by deciphering these clues and completing the lingering ritual can you hope to break the cycle and truly escape.  

When you finally walk out of the Reflection Temple, we hope you carry with you not just the adrenaline of the jump scares, but the haunting weight of the spirits' unresolved regrets. You entered seeking a way out; we hope you leave having delivered those long-lost souls home.