The world ended on the day the bombs fell. Since then, it’s always been like this: disease, hunger, death. The ruling Aristocrats — a faceless oligarchy that controls all resources — have unchallenged authority. There’s never enough food, water, or vaccine to go around. The rich receive regular doses of vaccinations in exchange for their unconditional government support. The poor live in fear, superstition, and squalor until they die.

Amy Wellard, a young woman reluctantly working for the government to qualify for the vaccine lottery, believes there’s a cure — and she’s going to find it. Even if it costs her her life.

I joined the Shardlight narrative team primarily as an editor. I played through the entire’s game narrative, created lengthy documentation detailing the changes I planned to make to various character’s voices, how to rewrite certain plot beats, etc. I worked with the lead on the game to perform character building exercises so that everyone from minor shopkeeps to the main characters felt fully realized and distinct in the writing.

In addition to rewriting and editing previously existing content, I contributed original writing in places where the story had not yet been fleshed out. I wrote the description text for every single object in all the rooms in the game, along with their accompanied voiced line attached to the interact action. Lastly, I wrote an original song for the music’s score and collaborated closely with the musician.

Shardlight may be purchased on Steam now.

As you meander through the Crosses, you begin to realize how much of a misnomer “The Hill of Crosses” is in reality.

While the majority are crosses by a mile, Judaic Stars of David, Muslim Crescents, Wiccan Stars, Buddhist Wheels, and other symbols you don’t recognize begin to pop out of the sea of white rectangles.

The Hill is a text adventure developed during the IGDA Writing SIG’s game jam focusing on games with extensive stories to tell. Developed with Rachél Bazelais, the game focuses on a lesbian EOD specialist in the height of the the Iraq war, and her partner’s grief at her loss. I wrote the entire story, while Rachél programmed and implemented images. The Hill can be played for free here.