Josephine Ryu

Level Designer // Game Designer

Resume + Contact
Projects
Monster Jam: Level Design
Titan Fury: Level Design
Monster Jam: Prototype to Release
Chariot 2 Prototype
Caravan Prototype
COMA Prototype

COMA: Mystery Narrative + Mini Games Prototype

Compendium of Monstrous Affairs (COMA) – Visual Novel point-and-click Adventure game investigating supernatural mysteries.

itch.io

Project Goals & Pillars:

  • Prove out a vertical slice of twist-in-genre mystery horror turned dating sim narrative experience
  • Use third party Visual Novel engines and existing Unity tools to create the prototype without engineering support
  • Create and release a prototype build to gauge public interest and gather audience feedback
  • Complete a vertical slice in 5 months to pitch to publishers and apply for production funding

What I accomplished:

  • Wrote and co-designed narrative progression: 2 chapters with branching paths
  • Designed and implemented 5+ experimental mini games using Naninovel’s script engine
  • Implemented and drew 6 background assets used for investigation point-and-click gameplay
  • Drew and implemented 15+ photograph and evidence prop assets used during point-and-click gameplay
  • Designed 2+ characters and created up to 10 different poses per character

Overview of Project Evolution:

Narrative progression and storyline planning + brainstorming.
Prototype Phase 1
Initial prototype of the Compendium, a book full of information about supernatural beings that inhabit this world. The player must piece discoverable clues together with details in the book to conclude which entity they are facing.
Full point-and-click investigation gameplay loop.
  1. Player starts by investigating supernatural elements using the Instax and taking photos of the evidence.
  2. The player can further investigate details of the photo.
  3. The evidence and findings get recorded in the Compendium. The player can connect the facts.
  4. The connected facts make a conclusive statement about the evidence.

The connected evidence unlocks dialogue options. The player must navigate the final conversation utilizing the unlocked options.

Prototyping Mini Games

Between investigations, I also prototyped mini games that would be sprinkled throughout the chapters. These mini games were prototyped only using the Naninovel dialogue engine.

Dialogue navigation mini game where the player must analyze the character and choose their words carefully to gather further clues.

Search and find mini game where the player must use the list of clues to find the correct location.

Maze mini game where the player enters an abandoned warehouse; the game records their steps. After a while, the player is being chased, they must retrace their steps in reverse to escape.

Gameplay system planning for warehouse maze mini game.

Security footage mini game where the player must scrub through “video footage” and stop at the correct time to find clues.