THAT WAS ONE SUPER NOVA
Company
Solo project - Written for Greg Buchanan's Game Writing Course
Duration
2022 - 2 months
Genre
Interactive Narrative
Platform
PC
Engine
Twine
Roles
Narrative Design (all)
Writing (all)
Programming (all)
Overview
A branching sci-fi interactive fiction game. Players are dropped into an alien world with no knowledge of who they are, where they are, or why. Player choice determines how they uncover these answers, navigate the world and complete their mission.
My Main Contributions
Branching Storytelling
I designed and wrote a non-linear narrative where player decisions shape pacing, perspective, and how story information is revealed.
Tone & Thematic Progression
The writing deliberately shifts from beauty and wonder into unease and psychological tension, gradually reframing the world and the player’s role within it.
Player-Driven Discovery
Key plot elements—identity, imprisonment, and mission—are uncovered through observation and interaction rather than exposition, ensuring each playthrough feels personal.
Environmental Storytelling
I used descriptive, interactive text to turn the environment into a narrative tool, guiding emotion, tension, and interpretation without explicit direction.
Implementation (Twine)
Written, structured, and playtested in Twine, managing branching paths, narrative nodes, and information flow to maintain coherence across all choices.
What This Demonstrates
Strong control of branching narrative structure, pacing, suspense, and player agency while preserving tone and core story beats.
An excerpt from the midpoint of the game, showcasing dramatic, mysterious prose, player-driven discovery, and branching narrative as the player ascends the ivory tower.
A look at the game in Twine, where I balanced complex branching narratives with player experience, using character fade-ins and click-to-reveal text to control pacing and tension.
I commissioned an artist to create a cover for my game as if it were an old-school CYOA book!
