Point of Return (Academic Project):

Point of Return is a 2D side-scrolling fantasy game. This game was developed by a team of 6 students in the Fall 2021 semester for a class. My team consisted of 6 people. We had two constraints with making this game. First, we had to gear it towards a topic related to neurodiversity. Second, we were only allowed to work on this project for a maximum of 3 hours every week, meaning we had to plan around our time limit. After some discussion, we ended up focusing on micro-aggressions towards Asian American people. We utilized AGILE and SCRUM principles simultaneously to iteratively improve the game in three-week sprints. We tested our game at the end of every sprint to receive feedback and incorporate it in future sprints. Each sprint had a set goal, and we had to figure out ourselves how to reach that goal within the constraints we were given.

My responsibilities surrounded designing the game’s mechanics and narrative. I designed the mechanics based around a time loop where the player can see the impact of potential dialogue options, as long as they portrayed microaggressions against Asian Americans. I also planned which dialogue options allowed the player to learn more about microaggressions compared to others. I did this by researching common terms that are most commonly associated with Asian American peoples and crafted which ones could allow for the player to learn more about certain microaggressions. This project allowed me to experience severe background research for the first time, making sure I knew what to incorporate in the narrative. It was also my first time working on narrative design for a project, as I had to write the dialogue in a relatable manner to make sure the player learns about microaggressions against Asian Americans. We had an internal team of narrative designers, including myself and 2 others. We had to work together to bounce ideas off each other and consider what microaggressions would be the best fit for our game. Of course, in doing so, we realize that this may be offensive to people who may take our game seriously, however our game is entirely for educational purposes and is not meant to harm in any way.