Narrative and Writing
Games I've Written
I am a Game Developer. I am also a Writer! As such, I tend to also "Write" the "Writing" for the "Games" that I "Game Develop". Here are some of them!
Master's Reliquary
- Released 2023
A short love story, made in 2 days for a game jam I ran for some friends.
Since I was the only one who had already made a game, I decided to "make something I wouldn't normally make" as my challenge.
It ended up very weird and a little personal, and I was very embarassed. But looking back, I think it's my favourite.
Southern Cross
- Released 2022
The tale of a wandering swordsman seeking the Strongest, at the end of his journey.
A minimalist twitch-action RPG about patterns, and trauma. Around 12 minutes to play through.
When I say the slash key I literally mean the "slash (/)" key by the way!
DOCTRINESPACE
- Released 2023
THE SYNOPSIS
A comedy-drama speculative sci-fi storygame about the evils of cryptocurrency, the nature of truth, and being a gormless little guy caught in the tides of techno-political change.
Rather advanced Twine game. About 30 minutes to play through all the way, with loads of unique scenes, subtle variations, and branching paths.
THE STRUCTURE
Basically, it's a visual novel X adventure game a-la something like Phoenix Wright, with a fair bit more narrative divergence depending on player choices. The story is
told through text, decisions and light puzzles, with a few special interactive sequences (A questionairre to be filled, a mock-JRPG battle, dungeon crawler-style
exploration, etc.) to break up the choice-y sections. The game has a "true" ending, and a multitude of comical/dire bad ends.
THE POINT
The game is a satire of online techbro culture and the cyberpunk scams (crypto and otherwise) that are so ubiquitous nowadays. As such, the tone is mainly humorous, but with moments of serious drama when the story demands it. This world is not free from the consequences and cruelties of the subject matter in reality.
THE SETTING
In the Darkness of The 21st Century, a plan was devised by technocrats to prevent misinformation and deceit on a global scale: The Canon of Confirmed Information, a system
wherein verified facts would be logged on to the blockchain to forever "canonize" them as indisputable truth. The player is a "Doctrine Analyst", similar to our world's bitcoin miners; Their job is to run a program on their computer that solves logical inconsistencies between verified facts, thus affirming the validity of the system as a whole.
SHRINESPARK
- Released 2020
THE SYNOPSIS
Play as an Orange Man, saved from certain death by a strange robed woman with a permanent anime smile. Find out the truth behind her questionable motives, for fun and profit!
A full-on 3+ hour Role-Playing game. Contains boatloads of characters, dialogue, cutscenes, branching options, sidequests, audio logs, and more! A paid release with over 1,400 downloads.
THE STRUCTURE
The game is written as a combination of a linear story and a series of vignettes. I like making lots of random weirdo NPCs to talk to, so people are always hanging around in the areas you travel, just doing their own things. It's a very social game! The most interesting part of the narrative structure are the in-game forums that update after certain game events and player actions, to give you a bit more context about the world and certain characters. (For example, the above post appears if the player chooses to rob a certain NPC). A sort of pseudo-emergent story-telling style!
THE POINT
The primary goal of this game (beyond making a Cool Space Prison Game) was to do a second-person narrative, one where you play a bystander to the main character. You're pulled into the middle of someone else's story, receive minimal guidance, and are thrown away unceremoniously when you no longer have a part to play. That's the kind of story I really wanted to tell here!
CURSED CHALICE
- Released 2019
The tale of a simple fool who desires a Cursed Chalice. The goal is achieved, but perhaps the nature of the Chalice is something best left alone...
A comedic fantasy adventure in the vein of Douglas Adams, with several humorous paths. Contains various mysterious, experimental story-adjusting mechanics.
THE LOATHSOME JOURNEY OF A SINISTER MAN - Projected 202X
A loathsome man journeys across a dark land in search of his hometown, visiting strange, sad little villages on his way and solving their self-inflicted problems in odd ways.
An uncharacteristically bleak RPG adventure, though still with plenty of jokes (much more dry than usual.) Shaping up to be the largest and most ambitious game I've ever made. Less focus on choices, and more on worldbuilding and characterization.