Genre: Visual novel, narrative game
Platform: Browser, PC, Mac
Engine: Unity Engine
Team: Solo
Published Apr 2023.
Roles/Contribution
Designer: game design document, narrative, mini-game design
Artist: developing art style guide, character art, environment art, prop/item art, 2D animation
UI/UX Designer: UI mockups & final assets
Bookpacking LA: A Single Man is a short narrative game based on the novel A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. The player follows the physical journey I, the game developer, go on as I trace George’s path across LA throughout the course of the novel.
"A Single Man" takes place over the course of a single day. I mapped out the locations and times that George, protagonist, travels to throughout the book and then went to those locations myself. The writing in the game represents my thoughts and reflections on George's journey, as well as analyzing themes and quotes from the book as a type of interactive book report.
The graphics are real photos and videos that I captured on my trip across Los Angeles as well as my own illustrations and animations.
The game is made up of written dialogue as well as a series of mini games. It intentionally follows an arc of 3 across each game, reflecting morning, afternoon, and night, and representing George's disjointed state of mind and grief.
One of the 3 jigsaw puzzles - in each puzzle, the player puts together a different room of George's home. This reflects George's morning routine and realization of the emptiness of his home after the death of his lover.
"Smush the ants" mini-game, taken from a moment in the book where George, the main character, kills ants in his kitchen. I also had an ant infestation at my apartment in LA at the time.
Click/tap on ants to smush them.
"Burger catcher" mini-game, which reflects a moment where George goes for a meal in Santa Monica. I went to Mel's Drive-In and found cigarettes at the sink in the women's restroom.
Game design document
Assets, scripts, & other tasks were all tracked using Trello.
Script - each line is separated to be easily copy/pasted into Unity Engine.
Some photos I took at Santa Monica, many of which inspired scenes in the game.