As our final project, we worked in pairs to create a prototype of a video game on Scratch. In our game, entitled, "The Bringer of Death Works Minimum Wage" (the title is obnoxiously long in a true anime fashion), the player assumes the role of Thana, a reaper whose task it is to help a lost spirit move on.

Pictured above is our UX design board detailing each level, and some initial sketches of what each page/section of the game would look like. Conceptualizing everything was fairly simple, but the coding aspect was more difficult. However, once I understood the formula/means of executing all of the tasks, everything became much simpler. Another conflict that arose was the issue of Scratch not allowing for collaborative work, meaning only one person could work on the game at a time.

The font used is "210 마마블럭" on Adobe Illustrator. The color palette consists of purples, blues, pinks, and white.

For this assignment, I created a virtual museum using BlippAR and my personal art pieces. When the users interacted with the piece, the name of the piece, year it was created, and the medium would be displayed on the screen. I chose these pieces because they're all recent works I have made throughout the semester.

For this project, our class split into pairs to conceptualize an interactive activity that would be installed either during Homecoming or Founders Day. My partner and I came up with the idea of creating an interactive experience for Founders Day. In this plan, we imagined that we would place motion sensors on the pathway leading to the Arch. We would have participants wear a headset as they walk under the arch, and once the motion sensors are triggered, the hymn would play for them through the headset as they pass through. We wanted to create this project to create an immersive experience during this sacred day that transports Spelman alumna back to their time as a student.

For our midterm, we each completed a text based adventure story on the social media platform, TikTok, in which those playing the game would read along the story and pick one of two options to progress the plot and reach a unique ending depending upon the specific choices made by the player. For my story, I had the player wake up in an abandoned mansion. Your only goal: to escape.

Pictured above are some images from the initial decision tree, which was my framework for the creation of the game; all of the text included in the game is in the decision tree. This is because, in order to prototype the game as effectively as possible prior to creating it, I wanted to ensure just text alone could paint an image of the scene without the assistance of images. The tree is expansive and encompasses three final endings alongside a plethora of dead ends as a result of incorrect choices. One of these final endings is a result of the very first decision the player has to make; my goal was to imply that every action has a consequence, even if you may think you have selected the correct answer.

In the creation of the TikTok story, I ran into some technical issues; the biggest one being that my account was banned from commenting indefinitely, presumably due to their anti-spam procedure, which hindered the entire structure of the game.

In October, our Interactive Storytelling Class held a scavenger hunt in which participants were guided through a murder mystery around campus. This was designed by taking inspiration from that of Escape Rooms; at each stop was a puzzle, and each stop was to both reveal something about the identity of the killer and also reveal the next location. The overarching story was this: You all are invited to a birthday party, when suddenly, one of the invitees is found dead. The group sets out on a mission to figure out who committed the crime, and ultimately discovers that it was the birthday girl all along.

I was in charge of the first stop located in the Innovation Lab. At my stop, I had a coded message in morse code that told the participants where to find the next clue. In order to solve it, the participants had to use the key given to them to fill out the missing letters in the message. The next clue I made was a poem in which the first letter of each word was the password to continue. For this stop, I worked individually.

The feedback we received mostly pertained to certain things potentially being unclear. One of the elements we included at each stop was the use of QR codes-- participants were expected to scan the QR code and input a password to get their next clue. A concern is that this element may not be clear to people going through the scavenger hunt as there was no clear indication of it being a part of the experience. Another bit of feedback was for my stop specifically; the morse code element may be too long, and could have been simplified for time efficiency. The next was that the puzzle at the fourth stop didn't feel like a puzzle, and it felt more like the answer was outright given. Aside from needing to make our puzzles potentially more engaging or advanced, our tester said they enjoyed the password system and storytelling, and that the overall experience was immersive.

In general, the directions were followed pretty well. In the future, I would listen to the feedback provided and make sure our puzzles are all equally challenging, and also potentially include an initial clue telling participants they will need to use the QR codes (for example, potentially putting that into the initial video that set the scene could have been a way of implementing this).

In this text based adventure, I chose to write a story in which the player wakes up in an unknown environment and has to escape. I chose this theme because I wanted to create an immersive experience that pushed the players to be intentional about each of their decisions, as one misstep would result in death.

I tried to be as descriptive as possible so it felt immersive. At each note, the player has to pick between two options, each one having a different outcome. Additionally, as the player encounters different endings, the dead ends could also serve as a guide for what to do moving forward. As a means of making the story less easy or obvious, I tried to throw subtle curveballs in the text to slightly nudge the player in the wrong direction.

In the world of fairies, humans were both feared and detested. The existence of fairies has long been overlooked, as man is usually too wrapped up in their own affairs to ponder about the plausibility of childhood fables and creatures. While humans may not have had access to the realm of fairies, the history of humans has long been understood and observed by those who live just beyond their spaces. Fern, an adventurous fairy, was enamoured by the complexity of human life. There was much to read– events and personal narratives she had yet to uncover. If there were any fairy in her village that anyone would go to for miscellaneous knowledge, it would easily be Fern. However, she simultaneously recognized her interest in reading about human life was entirely separate from a desire to live amongst them. In reading human books, fictitious and non-fictitious alike, she understood she wanted no part in the social hierarchies and looming danger that plagued human society. She, like the generations of fairies before her, observed from afar.

That day was like all the others. Fern fluttered about the depths of the forest, upturning leaves and sticks as she searched for trinkets and books left behind by the people who have passed through. This area seems to be running out of objects to find, Fern thought sullenly, perhaps it’s time I move onto a different site. As though the universe were listening to her inner turmoil, a glimmering object caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She immediately altered her course and landed beside where it sat, slightly hidden under a leaf. She brushed the leaf to the side, and was immediately temporarily blinded by an all-consuming light. She gasped and stumbled, and fell onto her back. Fern opened her eyes, and found that the world seemed a lot less… Big. She looked down, and saw her satchel on the ground beside the found-object. It was so small she could hold it on her fingertip. She observed the rest of her limbs, now understanding the scale of her body has been multiplied one hundredfold. Suddenly, she felt her stomach drop. Wait, Fern panicked, does this mean–? She felt her back for wings, and was met with nothing but fabric. I’m human, she thought, oh my gods, I’m human.

“Fern?” She heard a voice call out. Fern turned, and was met with the incredulous face of one of her best friends, Juniper, a deer. “What happened?”

“Juniper, I don’t know how it happened, but please, help me,” Fern begged. She felt her eyes begin to well with tears. She couldn’t live like this– while she was sure the fairies within her village would be understanding, there was no way she’d be able to continue living with her family and friends as she did. She would have to assimilate to a whole new way of life, a whole new society, and be subject to the plethora of manmade issues humans grappled with on a daily basis. 

“We’re going to change you back,” Juniper said with utmost confidence.

Hesitantly, Fern picked up the object that was the source of her anxieties. It was a rather large locket, and inside it contained a paper with writing. 

If you’re reading this, I assume the prank worked, it read, Don’t fret, little one, it will wear off in just a few minutes on its own. Like clockwork, the locket shone just as brightly as it did before, and when she came to, Fern was normal again. She spun in the air, overjoyed. Fern turned to Juniper in her excitement, but was met with a very human and not deer-like face.

--

For these five images, I sought to capture the most pivotal moments of the story, as I thought depicting those moments would help with making the story clear. In the first image, I set the scene with the fairy wandering around the woods. Next, she discovers a shining object in the distance. In the third, she touches that same object. In the last two images, I found that I had a lot of information left to illustrate, and I didn't have the room to do so. As a result, I found myself trying to include multiple key moments in one page on the last two pages. As a result, in the fourth photo, I tried to show the main character turning into a human and waking up. Her deer friend is also shocked, and I introduced the deer here so it would hopefully establish the fact that she is a major character as well. In the next, the fairy turns back to her original form, and turns to realize her deer friend has turned into a human in her place.

In class, I noticed that the class generally was able to understand the first three images, as they're simple and the most clear out of the five. However, the story got lost in the last two images as I tried to include too much information at once. For the first part of the story, the interpretations were mostly accurate, or at least understood the first two images.

In order to make my story clearer, I believe I would have benefitted from the inclusion of more panels so I have more space to fully illustrate the story.

I am pitching an idea for a video game entitled "The Bringer of Death Works Minimum Wage". This will be a video game with pixel sprites and art (which draws inspiration from indie games such as Undertale), which follows the protagonist, Thana, as she forcibly becomes a reaper to repay her family's debts. To acommodate the $5,000 budget, we would work in a small team comprised of character designers, map designers, pixel/sprite artists, programmers, and a story writer. Each of these teams (with the exception of story writer, which would be my role) will consist of 1-2 people.

This story is one I came up with as someone who deeply fears loss and death. I created the idea for "The Bringer of Death Works Minimum Wage" as a means to come to terms with the inevitability of death, and to hopefully gain a new perspective. In the creation of the game, I would hope that anyone who played it would come to the same conclusion. This is a story that I would not have thought of without having experienced grief, the fear of losing someone else, and, of course, without having experienced working in retail. While the story seems heavy, and at times it may be, I hope to bring a comedic aspect as well that pokes fun of capitalism and the experience of being at an utterly draining job (in retail or elsewhere) and receiving paychecks that unfortunately do not fully compensate the emotional and physical labor you endured.