With You

With You was the first of a series of prototypes developed in response to the core research question:

How can game designers create interactive auto/biographical experiences of ill-health that authentically convey the lived experiences and emotional realities of individuals?

Development began in early October 2017 and explored the conceptualisation and partial pre-production of a mobile game application (tool) to be used by cancer patients as a form of mood journal and medication adherence/treatment reminder. Through With You, I sought to explore the impact of cancer diagnosis with a focus on social interaction (isolation) and mental health (depression and anxiety). The creative hypothesis that I sought to test through this project was:

By guiding a fictional ‘friend’ through a cancer diagnosis and treatment journey, would the user also apply the advice they give to their own situation or circumstance?

This project sought to aggregate lived experience blog data into fictional persona(s) and a generalized cancer journey through creative writing/fiction (inspired by autobiography of others gleaned from Teenage Cancer Trust’s Young People’s Cancer Stories). The following prototype was developed using Twine with the intention to take the concept forward as a mobile application using Game Maker.

This project was framed by the following additional questions:

How can empathic experiences in serious games promote information retention and comprehension?

To what extent was this choice of game frame and technology the best use of my know-how and support the expression of lived experience?

The intentions for this project were to:

• Improve my subject knowledge of cancer generally and cancer journeys more specifically.

• Explore the transformation and communication of lived experience as narrative.

• Investigate designing for empathy.

• Explore new game engines and technologies.

It is recommend that you read section 4.1 With You of the thesis for further insight into the project.

Unfortunately, much of the pre-production and prototyping was lost due to my original PhD laptop hard drive failing. So the following are screenshots captured from my Abertay Professional Research Development Portfolio (PDP/ADEPT). The following two screenshots are the only surviving documentation of development and iteration on the With You prototype.

A re-work of the Twine prototype inspired by the prologue to Firewatch by Campo Santo.

An early Twine prototype of a mimetic mobile phone chat interface (inspired by A Normal Lost Phone and LifeLine) for engaging with the fictional friend.

Twine Test - Cute Cat Pics Daily (Ludic Literature Jam)

The following images reflect the ‘technical’ knowledge of Twine which was learned for prototyping With You. Cute Cat Pics Daily was developed during a symposium which I co-organized in July 2019 with Francis Butterworth-Parr and Zack Abrams; Ludic Literature: The Converging Interests of Writing, Games and Play. Whilst this project was developed after With You, it still serves to demonstrate the foundational skills learned to make With You possible.