Reflections from my Embolden Journey
Written by Nysha Tan, INTERN/EXPERIENCE DESIGNER, BOLD AT WORK
1. What is Embolden about? How was it conceived?
Back in May, Project Embolden started off as an actual event where people could meet facilitators and get their dysfunctional beliefs reframed. But after the heightened alert was announced, plans changed. It had to be a completely online activity and what came to mind was a Choose-Your-Own Adventure game. Since people my age would be feeling like they needed a sense of control during this period in their life, I intended the game to give a mild feeling of hope, just enough to keep someone going in this pandemic.
I jumped into the new plans totally blind. If I thought planning an event was hard, learning a new software (and the coding language that came with it) was an equally big feat! But developing the story was more important to me. It is easy to say the story will give hope but actually writing it had me scratching my head. How do I make the tone hopeful? How do I sprinkle in life tips without sounding preachy? (Many drafts were made in tackling those key questions.)
2. What's next after Project Embolden?
After Project Embolden, I hope to make and draw art for a few more game ideas I have. The bunch of independent games I came across on itch.io was so fascinating during my research and I would love to dabble in it a little bit more! I think Project Embolden has potential to be expanded à la MCU, but I also like it being a standalone. The same way someone stumbles upon a random book in a library. Perhaps the next intern could expand the lore of Singapore in the future and how the pandemic might still affect them then.
3. What is one thing from the results/participation from users that you would like to share with the readers of this blogpost?
I do not have that much details about participation because not many people made it to the feedback form. Those who did fill it in said that they do find the characters relatable. Hopefully you will too! If you are planning to play, please click the card when you receive the Code :)
Here’s a quick snapshot of my reflections and learnings of the process of creation!
Embolden is a piece of interactive fiction made in response to the current emotions being felt by the youths during the pandemic.
Here’s the link for you to play Embolden!
I have also curated a spotify playlist to accompany you through the journey.