KIERAN TOBIAS
game & narrative designer
PROJECTS
writing
Anatomy of Grief is a dramatic script concerning the toll of heartache.
motherland is a poem that explores heritage.
COLLEGETOWN is a proposed mystery puzzle platformer focusing on the liminal spaces and themes of home and transience.
interactables
Game Show is a tender and terrifying piece of interactive science fiction that delves into the lives and choices of four individuals, thrust into a mysterious and perilous game.Developed in Twine.Solo project.
Dark Hopes is a soft-horror visual novel with branching narratives about hope and vengeance, created for the Themed Horror Jam #9 Halloween Edition.Developed in Unity by a small team from Brown Girl Gamer Code.Contributions: narrative design
Bright Thoughts is comprised of two distinct yet interrelated games: a point and click adventure during the day wherein your decisions affect the nightly platformer. Created for the IGA Jelly Jam.Developed in Unity.Contributions: narrative design, level design
Garbage Day is a 3rd person RPG that explores mental health issues under the guise of tidying up an apartment as a little raccoon.Developed in Unreal Engine 4.In order to access, use the code:
trashSolo project.
Wilde Times is a 3rd person RPG that takes place in a world post-environmental disasters wherein the player must navigate through dangerous wilderness to reach Camp Wild and find the key to saving Camp Fields!Developing in Unity. On hiatus.Contributions: game design, narrative design
Memory - Disk - Dolls is a standalone level exploring memory and identity.Developed in Unreal Engine 4 by a small team for Code Coven's Intro to Game Making course.Contributions: narrative design, puzzle design, programming
Friendsgiving is an interactive art experience that explores friendships - what forms them, what strengthens them, and what impacts they have.Developed in Twine.In order to access, use the code:
frogprinceContributions: narrative, interactivity
Hello there! I am a game and narrative designer that is passionate about finding new and delightful ways to tell stories. My works are underpinned by themes of home; diversity and inclusion; and, self-actualization.Before pursuing writing professionally, I worked as a high school science teacher, leading classes such as chemistry and biochemistry. I remain fascinated by the intersection of science and society.
Bright Thoughts
The Experience
Bright Thoughts is comprised of two distinct yet interrelated games: a point and click adventure during the day and a platformer at night. Your decisions during the day have consequences for the nighttime game.
This game was developed by a team of 5 for the 48-hour long IGA Jelly Jam, which had a central theme of "sun up, sun down" and a bonus theme of "hint of magic".
The Work
Narrative Design:
* Brainstormed and outlined narrative structure for point and click daytime game
* Wrote text for supermarket narrative branch
* Wrote platformer win screen text
* Established effect of daytime choices on nighttime gameLevel Design:
* Mapped out platforms and enemy placement using grey-boxing in Unity
* Iterated on design based on team playtest feedback
Early on we decided that the provided theme of "sun up, sun down" was reminiscent of working day and night, and landed on an overarching idea of living/coping with burnout.Thus, we made it so that the daytime choices would affect the nighttime game. Specifically, choosing the "draining" response to prompts in the point and click adventure would provide you with less spoon (i.e. lives) in the platformer than if you were to choose the "healing" response. See toothpaste example to the left, and broken egg example to the right.
