PERSONAL WORK
I develop both analog and video games on my free time.
It is the occasion to explore new genres, imagine characters and settings that are close to my heart.
BOARD GAMES
VIDEO GAMES
VIDEO GAMES
RHEINGOLD
(under development since 2023)
After helping Sigurd retrieve the cursed treasure of the Nibelungen, Valkyria Sigrun faces an unceasing chain reaction of dire consequences shattering her world. Isolated and alone she desperately wants to reach Sigurd's hall before his planned death in hopes to lift the curse.
GENRE
TRAVERSAL / SURVIVAL
PLAYERS
SOLO
ENGINE
RPG MAKER MZ
Rheingold is a lonely and melancholic journey about surviving and moving on through the darkest hours. It explores the themes of fate, loss and resilience.
TRAVERSAL SURVIVAL
The player embodies Sigrun, who must cross the mythic and hauntingly beautiful Rhineland on horseback. Recently fallen from Godhood, she tries relentlessly to undo the consequences of the mortal curse she unleashed.
During her redemptive journey, Sigrun keeps facing the devastating consequences of her initial disobedience, that she has no control on. Gradually stripped of her divine protection, of her confidence, of her past, Sigrun touches the crude, authentic force that enables her to still move on despite the shattering experience.
Between survival and narrative exploration genres, Rheingold's gameplay is focused on traversal survival. Moving accross a hostile terrain while managing hindering conditions constitutes the primary challenge. Observation and adaptation to nature is what sets her to survive and progress along the dangerous paths.
Inspired by games such as Shadow of the Colossus and Death Stranding, Rheingold is a contemplative, melancholic and lonely experience sprinkled with rare moments of hope and mythical encounters.
Rheingold is currently under development.
GENRE
PUZZLE / NARRATIVE
PLAYERS
SOLO
ENGINE
RPG MAKER VX ACE
(2023)
Play as Saras, a ghost awoken thousands of years after her trespassing, desperately looking for a way home. Wander the land of the living, searching for memories to recompose the kingdom you lost. A haunting and emotional journey through history that progressively reveals the destructive purpose of your cursed pilgrimage.
ROADS TO ANDHARA
Roads to Andhara is a game about the difficulty of letting go. It explores the themes of loss, hope and resilience.
INTRODUCTION
In a magical world inspired by both Ancient India and the Arabian Nights, an old man escapes the local celebration of Diwali to enter discretly the necropolis. There he performs an ominous rite to awake a ghost named Saras, before disappearing.
Distraught by her surroundings, Saras mourns her own death. Desperately looking to be living again, she sets on a journey to go back home.
Saras has just awakened
A melancholic ghost without memories
MADELEINE DE PROUST
But Saras is amnesiac and doesn't know her way home. Yet while walking through the city, she recognizes an old fountain, which triggers the memory of her father, an ancient king. She understands that finding her home might not be a question of "where", but rather of "when".
Saras' journey is a melancholic investigation of her surroundings, aiming to remember the life that once inhabited them. Like a "Madeleine de Proust", scenes of the past become so vivid that they enable her to travel through time, slowly bringing her nearer to her lost kingdom.
Stone suggests to investigate the ruins
Interacting with the gameworld provides new information
When enough info is gathered, the player is invited to draw conclusions
A GHOST STORY
Roads to Andhara is a non-linear exploration game with slight puzzle mechanics. While Saras' journey is contemplative, mournful and of tragic beauty, it is also marked by fleeting, uplifting encounters. Gradually Saras grows to love a world she initially wanted to flee.
The development of the game resulted in a prototype of 2h of gameplay. If you're interested in playing the build please contact me.
Haunting the living can also be fun.
BOARDGAMES
VIKINGARD
Earn your right to enter Valhalla by completing the Vikingard's trials.
CATEGORY
ADVENTURE
VIKINGS
PLAYERS
SOLO / COOP
MECHANISMS
AREA MOVEMENT
EVENTS
SET COLLECTION
RANDOM PRODUCTION
An overview of the game
Each fish required specific action and hook to be taken
With inventory space, slots for personal quest and specialization cards, and the main tool.
An overview of the game
(2022)
Inspired by the game Valheim and the Stardew Valley boardgame, Vikingard is a game created for my husband's birthday, as a follow-up of my other game "The Last Raid".
In Vikingard, each player embodies an honorable viking willing to join Valhalla. To earn their entrance to the mighty hall, they must collaborate to repair all 6 worlds and complete their destiny before Ragnarök starts. The game takes the structure of a sandbox game, where each player can travel on the map and take a contextual action. These range from simple pick-up of resources to complex minigames. Gradually, players gain resources required to complete the world bundles and win the game. Since resources can also be invested in other actions, the core challenge is action prioritization
My aim was to simulate a world alive. I put emphasis on the visual and mechanical evolution of the world, based on time spent and actions taken. Seasons impacted available resources and the events, the player could build camps and their home to their liking, and the foraging minigame revealed permanent area modifiers. I also enriched the game with lots of content with hundreds of items, resources and event types. I also designed each action around unique, "verisimilar" mechanics to increase immersion.
I created cards and chips in CardCreator, and the rest in Photoshop (Boards, trackers, box). All artworks were found on the web and overpainted, expect the map which I drew myself. The game was printed by TheGameCrafter.
THE LAST RAID
Find your way through the dangerous North to reach Valhalla.
CATEGORY
ADVENTURE
VIKINGS
CARD GAME
PLAYERS
SOLO / COOP
MECHANISMS
HAND MANAGEMENT
Overview of the game, with the path ahead, the characters, and the Skol meter
The first events to cross
A new mechanic to simulate the rising cold and introduce a resource drain
Overview of the game, with the path ahead, the characters, and the Skol meter
(2021)
Created for my husband's birthday, this game preceded my other game Vikingard. As he enjoyed the Lost Expedition, a simple adventure card-game, I decided to create a Viking version of it.
I integrated the core mechanics of the Lost Expedition on my game: each player draws event cards and lays them down in rule-defined order. Then, the actions indicated on each card are resolved; some actions are forced, some are choices, and others are optional. Events can drain or give resources, cost HP, or enable movement. When all characters's HP reach 0, the players lose, but if they moved 9 times, they win the game.
I analyzed the balancing of the Lost Expedition in Excel to ensure a similar feeling and difficulty in my version of the content. I also added a cold mecanic to immerse the players in the viking theme.
I created the cards using CardCreator, drew the map on Wonderdraft. Most of my efforts were spent on Photoshop to create or overpaint artworks from talented artists, to adjust the illustration to the layout and action boxes. The game was printed by PrinterStudio.
PLAYERS
SOLO / VS
MECHANISMS
BINGO
SQUARE GRID
PATTERN BUILDING
STORYTELLING
1001 GARDENS
Build an enchanting garden in an oasis worthy of the tales of the Arabian Nights.
CATEGORY
ARABIAN
PUZZLE
Each player has their game board. the market is set aside, together with the dice and the player help.
Besides tiles, Dice provide elements that can be exchanged with furnitures. The player help reminds the cost and placement rules for each.
Completing a booklet rewards with game resources and gives the keyword of the next booklet to continue the tale.
Each player has their game board. the market is set aside, together with the dice and the player help.
(2021)
Descriptions of gardens in Arabian Nights have left me with a lasting enchanting impression. After playing a roll and write game (Railroad Ink), I was inspired to create an Arabian garden version of this type of game.
In 1001 Gardens the players take turn to roll the dice, providing them with tiles and Elements. The players simultaneously lay tiles on their Oasis grid (the rills (water channels), promenade and lawn) and exchange Elements against furniture (vegetation, gazebos, fountains...). Each furniture has a specific cost and placement rule.
I wanted the game to support loose, casual building of a garden that would make the stage for a tale from Arabian Nights. I hence defined the game objective around pattern building to progress a modular story structured in booklets. For example, a fisherman looking for a place to throw his net prompted the player to build a 2x2 water area. Upon completion the player is rewarded with game resources and a keyword to pick up the next booklet - in our example, the fisherman would find a magical lamp in his net (any resource of the player choice) and lead to a new booklet tagged "Jinn".
To embrace the theme, I aimed for the garden furnitures to be designed around geometrical and interlocking shapes similar to Girih art. For this prototype I used mosaic pieces and other small toy elements as placeholder. Ideally for a complete production, the game would be made of wooden geometrical elements for a timeless feel.