Eden

  • Project Lead

  • Professional Smeller

Eden was displayed at many events across Vermont. Some highlights include: Bookstock 2017, Burlington ArtHop 2017, Burlington Bookfest 2017.

Eden is a game that came with unique development challenges; it is in VR and it incorporates smell to create the most immersive experience possible. Smells are very hard to define. Humans rely so heavily on other senses that we don't have the language to talk about smells. Scents evoke the same emotional responses as color or audio - if not stronger - yet, there is very little common knowledge about how this works or how to use it. Our approach was to treat each smell like a character, building the narrative around the player's interaction with that smell. A room may appear beautiful and relaxing, but the subtle smell of burning and smoke causes tension. These complicated and mixed emotions drive the experience. I am very proud of the work done by myself and the entire team.

Eden is property of Alice and the Magician. Check out their continuing work in Olfactory VR.

Enter the Cave

  • Narrative Design

  • Interaction Design

Enter the Cave is a game that teaches conflict resolution through conversation. Players experience the struggles of living with a roommate in a new situation and collectively navigate their feelings. The guiding principal is education through experimentation. To do so, we used a branching narrative to encourage the player to experiment in different ways. With every interaction, the player learns about themselves and their partner.

Steven worked on three phases of the design of my game ENTER THE CAVE. Over that time I felt his feedback and opinions became very valuable in the process. Steven's impact began with receiving my general goal and ideas, and progressed to a prototype with two playable scenarios, a general marketing plan, and a template for adding additional scenarios to the game. He was a dynamic member of the larger team, as well as a contributor to individual aspects of the process.

- Enter the Cave Client

Enter the Cave is property of Small Steps Go Places.