“Losing and regaining hope”

Personal Work, San Francisco 2022, Unity Engine

This is a project I made while participating in a game jam. The prompt:

Create a 3d game prototype which uses level design, character movement and simple interactions to inspire a feeling of losing hope, and then regaining it. The gameplay should be character centric, and the level should follow an emotional arc.”

Additional constraints included:

  • Write a character controller from scratch

  • Focus on rich moment-to-moment feedback, without relying on animation/ complex visual

  • Use abstract basic shapes

 

I wanted this piece to reflect the experience of social ostracism. This is an extremely universal experience, but I was thinking specifically of a family member who just turned 14 when I created it.

Sometimes, as much as we struggle to conform, self expression brings much stronger kinship.