Games Writing + narrative design

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MR. WICKER
PUZZLE TRAIL

To support the launch of my award-winning debut novel, Mr. Wicker, I produced and directed a book trailer that included the beginning of a puzzle trail. Each solved puzzle revealed the amazing backstory of how I came to the book. Check the last frame of the video for the first clue.

Can you solve it?

Watch the Video
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“I Can make you stutter.”

An erotic horror interactive fiction game written and programmed in Twine. NSFW. Playing the broken-hearted, 20-something Fabiana Bisset, you're headed to New Orleans for a delicious encounter with the Gédé -- the loa of death and sex. But is it true vodou? Or a dangerous imposter? Play and find out!

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

Some of the super-cool, ultra-secret stuff I created for DWA included:

• A major storytelling project related to the logo
• Imagineering-style narrative design for a family restaurant
• Modernizing a Golden Age comic for adaptation to a mobile app game

HABIT HEROES

This online game for kids that was a connected experience with the Epcot Innoventions exhibit of the same name. Here, kids battled Bad Habits in pursuit of good health.

Co-Designed 3D online game with Imagineer Dean Orion.
Wrote all website copy and some in-game copy.

Created 18 (out of 24) bad habit Villains, including:

o Captain DeLay (procrastination)
o Duchess of Doom (negative thinking)
o Cereal Killer (skipping breakfast)
o Agent Stranger Danger (giving out personal info online)
o Stress Case (excessive worrying)
o Sonic BOOM! (listening to too much loud music)

THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ADVENTUREThe Great Piggy Bank Adventure is an online game with a connected Innoventions attraction at Epcot that teaches kids the basics of finances. I was co-writer for this game that won the 2009 Web Marketing Association Awar…

THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ADVENTURE

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is an online game with a connected Innoventions attraction at Epcot that teaches kids the basics of finances. I was co-writer for this game that won the 2009 Web Marketing Association Award for Best Game Website. Specifically, I:

• Wrote almost 100 game cards.
• Analyzed game design document from vendor.

2010 DISNEYLAND RESORT HALLOWEEN MINISITE

As part of the minisite, I created this park scavenger hunt. If the player entered the correct answer at the website, they could claim a prize.

I was also Lead Writer for the Disneyland Resort Halloween Minisite, which won the 2010 Internet Advertising Competition Awards.

BLUE SKY CELLAR ALTERNATE REALITY GAME

Our VP of Creative asked me to write design docs for a Disneyland Resort ARG that would promote Disney California Adventure and the Blue Sky Cellar. As a huge fan of ARGs, I enjoyed creating this game and its backstory:

Imagineer Jamie Kernwell has disappeared. No one had seen her for at least a week before another Imagineer noticed a cryptic note with what appears to be a puzzle attached and Jamie’s initials below. Other odd notes and things have been appearing in both the Cellar and in the virtual Cellar website.

Where is Jamie? How can she be rescued?

Does she want to be rescued?


I drafted similar design docs for Imagineering pitches for Disney Cruise Lines ARGs for teens and other experiences. Until very recently, Disney policy disallowed giving Cast Members lines who weren't already actors. It might not have happened until after I left, but I'm glad they eventually changed that policy.

WORLDSAWAY DREAMSCAPE BY FUJITSU AMERICA

I was the World Designer and In-World Storyteller for WorldsAway's Dreamscape, a graphical, 2D+ virtual world that was the grandmother of modern incarnations like The Sims. I created the world, wrote all the back stories that influenced the artwork and programming, and even held official storytelling events in the world for the avatars.

I was also responsible for the first "mute" feature in cyberspace. I made a passionate case to my mentor and Lead Designer of the project, Randy Farmer, that despite his philosophy that we should promote communication wherever possible, women were vulnerable to harassment. They needed a way to stop unwanted messaging. Randy eventually agreed, and implemented the feature. Now it's a commonplace feature in any online environment.

KESMAI STUDIOS

Working for Nick Laiacona, I created races and background histories for this iconic online roleplaying game. Nick offered me a full-time position, but it was in Virginia and I wasn't able to relocate at the time. But I was happy to fly out for a week or so to work with the team when I wasn't working remotely.

DARK DETOUR 3 -- "ON PINS AND NEEDLES"

I co-wrote this frightening Dark Detour adventure with Alison Norrington, the UK-based co-founder of the award-winning No Mimes Media, creator of multi-platform, immersive experiences. Dark Detours are horror stories told over 5 days through the social media accounts, blogs, phone calls, and email messages of the main characters. The players interact with the characters, at times influencing the live events. Told through social media, 360 video, and Facebook Live, "On Pins and Needles" is set in New Orleans and features a fashion designer who gets more than she bargained for when she buys a wedding dress in a magical shoppe.

DEAD EARTH PRODUCTIONS

Wrote, produced and ran fully immersive Lovecraftian, live-action roleplaying games (aka LARPs) for seven years. Players were always 50/50 female and male. Clients included:

• Mark Rein*Hagen and other White Wolf staff
• Chaosium
• R. Talsorian

Dead Earth ran two forms of games:
• 30-player, comedic draw the murderer from a hat ; weapons distributed through the area.
• 8-player characters with full backgrounds in a “holodeck” environment.

WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT AUGMENTED REALITY APPS

I designed and championed two prototype Augmented Reality apps for Walt Disney World Resort:

WDW Fastpass and More AR App
The app connected to the Next Generation Experience (NGE) database of individual Guests, which included Fast Pass times and meal reservations. The Guest could hold up their smart phone to the skyline of the resort and see where their next event was taking place, at what time, and in which direction. This app's built-in GPS helped visually orient both new and returning Guests.

This app was a Runner Up in the 2012 Hack Day Marathon, judged by tech folk from our Glendale and Seattle locations.

WDW Personalized Experience AR App
Using the Guest's NGE database, the app accessed personalized event requests and created magical experiences including the appearance of Mickey Mouse footprints that led Guests through the Park to a surprise birthday celebration, or even delivered wedding proposals superimposed over the most romantic fireworks in the world.