This page showcases the IF or choice-based narrative games I’ve worked on specifically.
(My Portfolio is here, and my Full Gameography is here)
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The Pauper King of Abalus (2020) – Interactive Fiction (Ink)
My Role: Solo project
‘Legends tell of a wager that King Piotr made on the eve of his defeat. Lancelot: They tell of a bargain with some higher power to have the Kingdom vanish from all lands and all maps, till some angel writing in the margins of history is ready to see it returned to us.’
An entry to Inkle’s Campfire Tales call for their game Pendragon. In this campfire story we learn of an aberrant Kingdom, where the peasantry took control and square off against the weight of history. As requested by the brief, this was written to match the game’s in-house style – as showcased by this example.
Play (itch.io)
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Victorian Exorcist (2018) – Design Work
My Role: Solo Project
‘It is 2020, and various paranormal societies have gathered to confront a growing problem: history has become unshackled and the past is haunting the present. Victorian London’s dead are flooding into the modern era, causing a growing spate of otherworldly disturbances…’
University coursework. Created as a series of Design Documents as a hypothetical pitch for Failbetter Games.
Victorian Exorcist is a mobile-based, educational, adventure game for young-adults, where the player hunts ghosts across the city of London. Players will need to investigate central London using GPS, research real-world Victorian history through game-based learning, and solve mysteries using Augmented-Reality – to exorcise the vengeful spirits
haunting London, casting them back into the shadows of the past once and for all.
Servitude (2015) – Interactive Fiction (Twine)
My Role: Designer for Team ‘the anon-a-mice’ (Two people)
‘Eshmun. An intricate tangle of cobbled streets on the west bank of the river. Townsfolk congregate in a large courtyard stretched out in front of a clock tower. Opposite, the large but plain lodgings of the Redfriars of Talek…‘
A short Twine game about failing in your quest and adopting the values of the villain instead. Additionally featuring several randomised story names and events making each playthrough different. Collaboratively written and designed with Chris Gilbert for ProcJam 2015. Title art illustrated by Edward Welch.
James Nowlan Games 