On this project, I wore a lot of different hats, depending on the tasks that needed to be done. The game started with the concept of being a reflection of social media, with plans to have minigames that put players in a mock version of social media, having to juggle working on school work while also replying to virtual friends. However, the concept shifted during development as we realized it wasn't what we wanted to develop, nor was it within the team's scope.  Instead, we focused on making the game replicate the feelings of someone using social media  by having minigames that would draw the players away from the work they were supposed to be doing. 

This was a valuable realization for the team, as it allowed us to design a better game that kept the project's core pillars while creating a more complete experience within the scope we had.  The game structure became that of a simulation, where you have 10 minutes in order to complete an essay, while also having 2 minigames that can be played, which can distract you during gameplay.

The team had a very specific vision for the game. Doing a lot of research into what the target audience for the project would be, the age demographic the concept appealed to, alongside the amount of playtime we wanted for the full experience. Through our research, we were able to hone in a lot of key game elements, while supporting our design decisions through this research.

On the project, I mainly worked on the narrative components and on setting up much of the general functionality of the mini games, such as the snake and clicker games.  The narrative script was something I focused on and iterated on throughout the development. The script was for the essay; the player is expected to write down the letters that appear on screen. We wanted the mechanic to feel tenuous, but I still wanted the dialogue to be humorous so that players didn't become too frustrated with the mechanic during gameplay. The more comedic effects take a bit to come into play, intended to give players a chance to fall in formula, only to pull the rug out from under them, keeping them on their toes.

I took a lot of inspiration for this essay from famous online rants and other humorous encounters where people justify their opinions on different subjects. It was a fun style to replicate and do research for, and then immerse myself in the writings of. 

As mentioned, I worked on several of the minigames, conceived the initial idea for both games, relayed my suggestions to the rest of the team, and then implemented them. Snake was an early intended minigame, with the team wanting to emulate early games that came included with Windows, like solitaire, Minesweeper, and, of course, Snake. From here, I went and made a basic conversion of Snake in Unity. After completing the basic components, I showed my progress to the team and received feedback. The team then gave me feedback and further improved the game through their own feature implementations and expertise. This gives a basis for the second game. Originally, I wanted a basic clicker game, but to differentiate it from Snake and give it a bit more specialness, I conceptualized it as a faux shooter, in the style of Call of Duty at first, then Doom-esque to make it more period-appropriate for the game.