Eye of the Storm
Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck
1
Unreal Engine 5
March - June 2024
- General: Developed alongside my Bachelor's thesis, “Anxiety Disorder and its Representation in Video Games"
- Narrative: After a panic attack at a college party, the protagonist wakes up in a manifestation of their own mind and has to experience their emotions to return to normality.
- Gameplay: The player enters levels that represent one emotion and fights enemies with the help of common symptoms of a Generalised Anxiety Disorder, e.g. Sensory Overload, giving the player a temporary speed boost.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: Story, Character dialogue, World building
- Game Design: Level design, Quest design, Combat design
- Programming: Character controls, Game flow, Enemy AI
- Takeaways: The narrative incorporation of mental health-related subjects into games; Research for design; A strengthened understanding of Unreal Engine 5
- Awards: Bachelor's thesis received full marks
Recreational Electronic Works
Uppsala University
3
Unity
March 2025 -
- General: Developed alongside my Master's thesis "'Managing to Critique': Counterfactualism in Resource Management Games for Social Commentary"
- Narrative: Set in the struggling toy factory, Fenwick and Co., the player creates so-called "RecElecs", a foreign headgear that transports consumers into an entirely different realm. Simultaneously, they’re tasked with keeping the company running, workforce and all.
- Gameplay: A resource management game in which the player is in charge of the company's expenses and workforce, and thus has to make tough decisions about how to treat them, as well as whom to fire and promote.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: World building, Character dialogue, On-screen texts
- Game Design: Game loop, Factory upgrades, Resource management, Interaction design
- Programming: Menus & UI, Minigames
- Sound Design: Sound recording, Sound & Music research, Ambience creation
- Takeaways: Criticising certain structures through narrative and gameplay; Developing resource management games
- Awards: Gotland Game Conference - Best Art Direction nominee, Students' Choice nominee
Grady Belle
Uppsala University
2
Unity
December - January 2024
- General: Developed for the course "Game Design Studio" at Uppsala University
- Narrative: The sentient house, Grady Belle, sits deep in Louisiana’s bayou. Its attempts at making friends have only scared people off, until a young girl called Bella arrives. Their unlikely friendship begins.
- Gameplay: Point and Click - Interacting with certain objects in a scene to proceed in the story.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: World building, Character design, Story
- Game Design: Interaction design, Game loop
- Art: User Interface, Characters, Interactable items, Backgrounds
- Takeaways: Telling a story by using game mechanics; Improved knowledge of Adobe Illustrator for game development
Constellations
Technical University of Applied Sciences
1
Unity
June - July 2023
- General: A Virtual Reality game developed for the course "Stereography and Immersive Media" at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck. Later, I restructured the game to be playable in a fulldome, and it was presented at the “Travemünder Woche”.
- Narrative: On their first date, Mia and Ani are looking at the sky. They can see some constellations and share their knowledge about them.
- Gameplay: The player can look at an accurate portrayal of our night sky, extracted from the "Yale Bright Star Catalogue". Using the VR controllers, they can find out more about the present constellations or create new ones by connecting the stars with their controller.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: World building, On-screen text, Character dialogue
- Game Design: Interaction design, Game loop
- Programming: VR development, Star generation, Constellation creator
- Takeaways: Setting a game's mood by using music, colours, and narrative; Developing a VR/fulldome game using Unity; Using data from a binary file in Unity
Tales of Lübeck
Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck
2
Unity
October 2022 - October 2023
- General: An Android app developed for the course "Design Project I & II" at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck
- Narrative: The user is transported to a version of campus that resembles a typical RPG world, with names such as "Tavern" for the campus café, or "Tinkerer's Yard" for the electrical engineers' building.
- Gameplay: This gamified productivity app is structured like an RPG. The player can create and customise their avatar and complete quests for rewards, such as money and XP, to unlock new looks and level up. Additionally, they can check into buildings on campus to gain XP and get information about campus life, events, activities, and local student discounts.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: World building, Quest writing, Translation of campus elements to RPG setting
- Game Design: Quest design, Interaction design, Economy design, UX
- Programming: Inventory, Quest log, Map integration
- Art: Character, Character customisations, User interface, Campus map
- Takeaways: Gamifying campus processes and creating an RPG setting; Using students' feedback to improve functionality
Bed Bugs
Uppsala University
5
Unity
17 - 28 March 2025
- General: Developed for the course "Critical Making" at Uppsala University with the prompts "Gender" and "Reparative Game Design"
- Narrative: Four young female bugs are having a sleepover and start making up grand stories, taking turns telling them. Their tale starts in the Middle Ages but quickly fades into other scenarios, taking the bugs to the sea, the Wild West, and even to space!
- Gameplay: Point-and-Click - The player progresses through the different scenarios by interacting with the scene in a certain way.
- Roles:
- Narrative Design: World building, Character design
- Game Design: Interaction design, Game loop
- Takeaways: Incorporating feminist themes not as plot, but as tonality; Reiterating a game based on the class's feedback