Project Madison

Set in the 1960's Mad Men era, seek revenge on your sexist co-worker as you balance your workload with sneaking around the office. * Featured on itch.io and Rock Paper Shotgun in June 2019

About

Graduation project - BA Games Design, London College of Communication, 2019

Genre | Office Simulator, Strategy, Rpg

Software | Unity, Adobe Illustrator, Fungus

Platform(s) | PC & Mac

Key Features:

Steal, make, and buy what you need to win using the inventory and crafting systems.
One goal, multiple pathways to success.
Solve environmental puzzles that work differently depending on the time of day.
Make and break relationships based on decisions taken during the day.

Team

This game was made in collaboration with Pauline Martyn*. My roles for this project were:

Co-Game Designer: level design, systems design, prototyping
Principal Programmer: Inventory system, crafting system, UI programming, Day/Night cycles
Art & UI Design: Designed and implemented UI and art inspired by research on 1950s/60s design.

*Pauline's roles included:

Narrative Design, Co-Game Design, Additional Programming (Narrative and NPC Systems) Check out her portfolio

Design Goals & Challenges

In Project Madison we set out to create a light-hearted revenge simulator, where mechanics and player choice influenced the progression of the narrative.

Goals

Design goals that influence the implementation of different game features:

Create an interactive environment that encourages players to explore.
Build structures that facilitate multiple play styles, with decisions made in one area influencing the options available in another.

Challenges

As a designer on the project, key challenges for me included:

Pauline

Directing player's through level design

As a self-contained environment, balancing explicit instructions with players' freedom to explore and figure out the puzzles at their own pace.

Positioning interactable objects

Allowing players to access relevant tools for progression whilst at the same time alluding to ways of gaining newer items. Balancing the distribution of items throughout the world.

Communicating mechanics through UI design

Visually communicating key world information and environmental changes to guide players without overwhelming them.