Bandit is the protagonist of Oasis Blitz, therefore it was important for me and the director define his characteristics during pre-production. His character bible was essential for writing his dialogue as well as a reference for the animators when animating his mannerisms. This sheet was also used for my collaborations with the sound design team to implement voiceover

The cutscenes of the game are slideshows that include still drawings to tell the story. These cutscenes will play during the beginning and end. The process for developing these are that the narrative team and I will write scripts and then work with the art team for storyboarding.The example I provided is the current version of the opening cutscene.

Critters serve as the supporting characters. More spawn after each level and completed. Their barks give more context to the world and provide side quests for players. I wanted them to motivate the player to interact more with the world and explore alternative paths in levels. I worked with my narrative team to write these barks.

The narrative bark sheet focused
on a specific scene in the third level.

During pre-production and occasionally production, the narrative team was tasked with pitching villains for the story. Whenever I conceive an idea for a villain, I considered fun, unique powers and abilities. More importantly, I want them to have a personality that pushes Mantle to his limits and their history with other superheroes. For their appearance, I would take some general ideas and then consult the art team so they could use their expertise to share their own ideas.

A section of the villain spreadsheet. Each villain has selected attributes listed that I reference when writing.

Cutscenes in Mantle take place on the screen of a laptop, with a news report of the previous battle on one tab and a transcript between Mantle and his creator, Leo, on the other. I am assigned to write these cutscenes. When crafting these, I strive to convey the consequences of the battle (both positive and negative) and both Mantle and Leo's arc from heroes to villains.

Leo is a figure behind the scenes who configures his personality, including his deep desire for recognition, onto Mantle. At the beginning, they have very similar personalities, but as public backlash against Mantle grows, they both descend into villainy but do so differently. I want to convey that Leo is desperate to be considered a hero while Mantle is delusional about his hero status.

Script for a cutscene at the end of Act 2.

My narrative work for Cards of Heart primarily consists of developing all the Shadows encountered throughout the game. I write character sheets that include descriptions of Shadows as well as their personalities and dialogue throughout battle. These sheets serve as references for me when writing scripts for cutscenes before and after battles. The art team also references such documents when creating concept art.This example is of the Grove Shadow, which is the first shadow the player encounters. The director envisioned the Shadow as an introduction to mindfulness techniques listed in the player's card deck. So for this Shadow, I made its personality, mannerisms, and dialogue a simplistic combination of various cognitive distortions so the player can easily understand what future Shadows may represent.

With regard to my work as a systems designer, I create cards for the Shadows. The statements on the cards are thoughts related to specific cognitive distortions that attack Amalia's hope, empowerment, or connectedness with the present. I write statements and considered that amount of damage each one would do.Since the Grove Shadow serves as a tutorial to card battles, the dialogue exchanges are written to help the player understand the mechanics. Furthermore, some exchanges are examples of Amalia using cognitive behavioral therapy, so I wrote Amalia using CBT and the Shadow's resistance to it.

At the center of Brinkmanship is a conspiracy. It is the duty of the player to uncover the truth and confront those responsible. How they do so it determined by their choices in dialogue and actions throughout the game. As a narrative designer, I have to consider this when developing characters and writing scripts for scenes. YarnSpinner is how scripts are implemented in the game. Using YarnSpinner formatting and syntax allows me to consider player choices and assists me in visualizing possible branches.The script embedded is the player character talking with their parents about the conspiracy they recently discovered. This scene takes place very early in the game, so I wrote dialogue options that vary greatly so the player understands the importance of their choices.

The goal of the brainstorm minigames is to see what elements of storytelling can be limited be censorship. The four main factors that influence player decision in these minigames are revenue, audience response, critical reception, and reactions from characters. For the first three mentioned, players must determine their priorities or choose to strike a balance among them. It is rather tricky to create a balance, and choosing one over the other has consequences on the final version of the pitch.The fourth factor demonstrates the personalities of the characters. When creating answers to the prompts, I considered words and phrases that would create unique reactions from each character. The wording of the response were also important, as they needed to clearly state what they liked or disliked.

The Cleaner is a visual novel with a branching story. Therefore, the narrative team and I wanted differing story elements and endings that depended on player choices in dialogue. Each narrative designer was assigned a character to write dialogue for, and my character was Lia. Since she is the main playable character, I had to consider how her personality would change according to certain player choices and how those relate to the themes of the game. Specifically, I wanted to her dialogue to represent possible reactions to censorship. She either follows the constraints and compromises her vision or stays true to herself.

Before I joined the team, the director imagined the concept of the game as the narrative, which was street rats competing to sell items to villagers in order to survive. I thought the concept was extremely solid, so I used that as a basis for crafting the story further. Since the story is told through gameplay, my tasks were to ensure the narrative was implemented into the mechanics.The rule book introduces players to the concept and mechanics, so I used it to explain those as well as the main story and characters. Taking the preexisting set of rules (and the additions made after playtests), I made sure to provide clear and concise instructions that guided players through the intricacies of the game, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable gaming experience. In addition, I established that the game concept is the basis of the narrative. This way, the player knows that they will experience the competitiveness and desperation of selling random items that the player characters are also experiencing.Playtesting sessions gave me information on how to better explain and clarify the narrative. A major point of feedback was confusion regarding the intentions of the villagers. I used the feedback as an opportunity to flesh out those characters by naming them and hinting at the possible item types they prefer.

Draft of the rule book. This version shows the board setup and explains the story and mechanics.

Finalized version of the rule book, now featuring more concise introductions and descriptions of the villagers.

Skill cards add to the competitiveness. When activated, players give themselves certain advantages. The game designers worked on creating and refining these cards, and I collaborated with them regularly. I saw the cards as a system to tell the narrative. So, I added thematic narratives and strategic depth to them as to create player engagement within the world of the game. The name of skill cards are reminiscent of terms from the Medieval Era. Before the explanation of the effect is a small passage fitting to the card name that emphasizes the somber yet humorous tone.