Visual novel/interactive narrative game

Takeaways

The main takeaway related to narrative design was the importance of making potential outcomes apparent to the player when making a choice. A lot of intended jokes in the comedy route were initially through unexpected outcomes to seemingly innocuous decisions, but through playtesting it was revealed this mostly frustrated players. The narrative and decisions/puzzles were then reworked to focus on character interaction and motivations as the source of comedy, where the player’s input was more direct in cause and effect. The results showed players being able to engage with the jokes much easier in later playtests.

Onboarding is crucial even for gameplay elements that seem obvious or like genre conventions and also help provide a format for less obvious gameplay elements later on in a project.

Learned through making throwaway prototypes early how to identify and iterate on major gameplay elements from the early stages of a project.

Summary

Made for school, an interactive narrative / visual novel game about hacking and managing a spy operative from the café across the street. Players manage their spy operative while hiding their laptop screen and not arousing suspicion in the café through conversation. Puzzles emphasized narrative queues and environmental hints. Featured 3 main story branches with 3 endings each.

Roles + Responsibilities

Narrative designer/writer and artist.

Designed and wrote dialogue for target and comedy story routes, prototyped dialogue and implemented for the final product. Designed and produced art assets.

Tools

Twine, Unity, Fungus, Photoshop