One animator was dedicated full-time during three years of the game's development to work out the boy's animations, including animations that showed anticipation on the player's actions or events in the game, such as reaching out for a cart handle as the player moved the boy near it. Jensen felt this was important as the character was always at the center of the player's screen, and the most important element to watch. Playdead included gruesome death sequences to highlight incorrect solutions and discourage players from repeating their mistakes. While they expected players to run the boy into numerous deaths while trying solutions, Carlsen stated that their goal was to ensure death wasn't a penalty in the game, and made the death animations entertaining to keep the player interested. Carlsen noted several early puzzles were too complex for the game, but they would end up using a portion of these larger puzzles in the final release.
