Wield the power of gossip and drama to shape the destiny of your classmates as the editor of your school's newspaper in the world of elementary school espionage.
Primary Roles: Art Lead, Level Designer, Narrative Designer
Tools: Unity, Microsoft Suite, Adobe Illustrator
Duration: 5 Days
Mission Statement
As a team, we felt that the topic of fake news and media bias is a consistently growing problem in today’s society. With such easy access to the internet and social media, people all over the world (especially youth) are exposed to misleading information. Our game, The Puddle Jumpers Gazette, aims to inform players of the dangers of fake news and media bias through the satirical setting of an elementary school.
Our team brings a fun and unique take on satire regarding fake news;
By packaging our project and our topic of fake news inside of a cute and silly game about kids in a school, our game becomes much more approachable, even to people who may not care about the topic.
Core Gameplay Loop
Players start the day in a top down 2D environment (akin to Kindergarten game series) and can walk around gathering information by clicking “E” on people or things in the environment.
After the day's events, players will return to their “Office” and begin creating the newspaper with information they found during the first part of the day.
Players will drag and drop relative information onto the newspaper to create the headline for the day. Depending on the information they include, the newspapers ratings will go UP vs DOWN
Once the day is over, the next day starts and the loop repeats.
Level Design and Art Direction
The level design for Puddle Jumpers Gazette was a departure from my previous experience with fast-paced action games. Unlike those projects, PJG required a more subtle and relaxed approach. The environment wasn’t meant to challenge players with difficult traversal but rather to be simple and inviting.
This simplicity also influenced the art direction, which took on a more defined role. Each room needed to be visually distinct, ensuring that players always knew where they were. We implemented key props to serve as clear markers, like a large world map in the geography room, a gaping hole in the science department, and uniquely shaped desks in the art department. These specific visual indicators helped ground the level design, offering both clarity and personality to each area.
Narrative Design
The narrative elements of this game were by far the most intricate. We created 30 distinct characters, each with their own unique dialogue spanning across 5 different days. Many of these characters had evolving storylines that would impact not only your future interactions with THEM but also your future conversations with OTHER characters they mentioned. Altogether, we crafted around 250 unique conversations between the player and the NPCs, allowing for the most interconnected and dynamic narrative experience I have had the pleasure of working on. Check it out by clicking on the button below.
