emischnick

Emischnick's Designer Statement:

I’m a game designer driven by the belief that games should have a purpose, whether through immersive storytelling, educational content, or creating meaningful experiences. My strong educational upbringing inspired me to pursue a career in education, and I’m passionate about designing games that engage players and potential students. Pursuing a degree in Information Science and Computer Science, I plan to use these learning opportunities with my passion and desire to create thoughtful games.  Currently, I’m also working on a certificate in Educational Policy and Services to deepen my understanding of how design can shape learning and meaningful experiences.

I’ve developed three unique games during the curriculum structure of my Game Design Course, 357 to showcase what I learned about game design, including specific purposes of mechanical, narrative vision, and educational.

First, Munch and Crunch is a mechanical puzzle game created with PuzzleScript. In this playful adventure, players must strategically grow or shrink their character by consuming different foods (healthy and non) to solve increasingly challenging puzzles. It highlights my goal of creating fun, mechanically engaging games that also encourage in-depth thinking and the principles of proper game design.

The Shadows of St. Cecila's is a narrative horror game built in Twine. This eerie adventure takes players through the abandoned halls of St. Cecila’s School for Girls, incorporating a suspenseful story that unravels with every choice the player makes. The game demonstrates my focus on immersive storytelling, producing emotions and tension through interactive storylines.

Lastly, Matter Mastery is a serious educational game developed in PuzzleScript to teach kids about the states of matter using water. Players work through puzzles that display the transformation from solid, liquid, and gas, making the game fun and educational. This game demonstrates my goal of using game design as a tool for education.

Each of these games represents a different aspect of my design principles, combining creativity, skill, and purpose.