Hello, My name is Ryan Ovalles. I was born and raised here in Oahu. I attended Pearl City High and graduated in 2018. I then attended Leeward Community College and graduated with Associates in Liberal Arts and Animation. I transferred to West Oahu in Fall 2022. If I could be any artistʻs tool, I would say I'm a mechanical pencil. It's my favorite tool when it comes to drawing and pencils are one of, if not the first tool to bring items to life.
This paper examines the harmful effects of crunch on video game developers, as seen in cases like Cyberpunk 2077 and Uncharted 4. Crunch leads to severe physical and mental health issues, from burnout to heart attacks, while offering no financial benefit and risking job security. It can also harm game quality, as seen with Sonic the Hedgehog. Solutions like a four-day workweek or delaying releases could help both AAA and indie developers. The industry must end crunch to protect its creators.
The concept of creativity has come a long way. The Old Greeks would call those creative forces muses, other religions referred to them as God. Today people still mostly treat creativity as an aha moment outside the area of influence. However, just by looking at the creative process one can tell, that creativity and creative work is more than just that one "Aha-Moment" (insight). It is clear that generating ideas demands planning and preparation, identifying something of interest like a problem, an opportunity or a challenge, doing research. This then leads to thinking of a solution, allowing time to incubate and iterations before arriving at something “complete.” Students learn that hard work is what makes their ideas come to life and sticktuiveness is what helps them get better.
Ryanʻs game attempts to illustrate these crunch culture challenges, He developed an original video game simulating a workplace under crunch culture, giving players a firsthand experience of its impact on morale, productivity, and well-being. The project advocates for industry-wide solutions like a four-day workweek and flexible deadlines to protect developers and improve the creative process.
To play the game: https://gx.games/games/0t0c20/development-tumult/tracks/fec52dcb-f0fc-48cb-941d-dfcb32c2cdaf/