Overview:

Game design is an artistic form. Like any other art, it is all about crafting a unique experience to evoke emotion in the audience. My contributions to the medium fall short of this poetic ideal (for examples of games that do achieve this ideal, check out My Favorite things page), but I am nonetheless proud of my games as passionate creative endeavors.

Videogames:

• Narcolepsy

  • My college roommate Scott Durand and I created the game "Narcolepsy" for the 45 hour Bear Jams game jam. The theme for the competition was "Inconsistent," so we created a platformer in which sometimes your jumps fail, putting your character to sleep instead. Luckily, reacting with a quick second press of the jump button wakes your character up with a dash that reaches even further heights than your initial jump. The game's biggest strength was its aesthetic; Scott added glow to the moon and enemy lasers, which created a stark contrast between moody shadows and vibrant lighting throughout the level. This, combined with the music I created for the game, set an ominous mood. Unfortunately, the game feels clunky to control and as a result isn't fun to play, which taught me a good lesson about prioritizing fundamentals over polish.

  • Download the game here:

    • https://joseph-springer.itch.io/narcolepsy

• Caverns (working title)

  • I am currently creating a Metroidvania platformer with Scott, building off the lessons we learned from Narcolepsy. We plan to publish it once completed, so watch out.

Board Games:

I created a couple board games which have received positive feedback from those who have tested them. Currently, they exist only as informal prototypes, verbally explained with cardboard cutouts, but I am working on transcribing written explanations in time.

• • Lead Alchemy

  • Quickdraw