My First Foray into Game Design

Creative genius, or the scribbling of a mad woman? Only time will tell!

Over the bank holiday weekend, I decided to try something completely new.

Now, I wouldn’t call myself a gamer 🎮✨ (though I did get to play Rayman again, in the name of research of course. Still fun!).

My experience mostly stops around the PS1 era — think simple platformers 🕹️ or fun, spooky titles games like Resident Evil 🧟‍♂️ and Silent Hill 👻. Anything too complex? My ADHD brain checks out fast ⚡.

What I do love, though, is writing ✍️. That’s where this whole adventure started.

I was at the dining table scribbling a short story 📝 while my partner JB (a far more logical creature than me 🤓) was deeply lost in Fallout. I half-watched him collect random objects 🎒 and immerse himself in whatever mission he was on, when I suddenly thought: what if I turned one of my stories into a game? 💡

Honestly, I expected JB to grunt something like “yeah, whatever” and carry on playing. Instead, he lit up ✨. He put down the controller, disappeared for five minutes, and came back with a flip chart and pens 🖊️📊. He wanted to help! I was all about the story; he was all about maps and levels. Weirdly, a perfect match 💕.

So, we got cracking.

At first, I thought: “Easy. I’ll just use my story.” Nope 🚫. Turns out game writing demands a completely different level of detail. When I write fiction, I love leaving room for readers to imagine places and characters, which probably look completely different in my mind that theirs 🌌. But in a game, everything has to be pinned down: character looks 👤, motivations 💭, side quests 🗺️, collectible items 🎁, environments 🌳⛏️, even alternative endings 🔄. Suddenly, my little spooky tale became a flip-chart epic 📜.

Here’s what we’ve got so far:

• Six planned levels (though we only have level 1 mapped) 🎯.

• A cast of soot-like creatures called Crumlins 🌑, who must save their abandoned mine from demolition.

• Ex-miners struggling to keep their village alive — closed shops 🏚️, no jobs 🚫💼, no power 💡.

• An endgame where Crumlins revive the mine as a museum 🏛️, draw in visitors 🧳, and bring the town back to life 🌱.

I’m honestly loving it 💖. Writing has always been a solitary thing for me (which I enjoy), but collaborating like this — bouncing between story 📖, maps 🗺️, and mechanics ⚙️ — feels so creative and fun 🎨. It’s stretching my brain in new ways 🧠, and I’ve already grown even more attached to my little Crumlins 🥹.

You can read my original story here, should you so wish!

This is very much a work-in-progress 🔧, but I’ll keep you posted.

And if any seasoned gamers have tips for a complete newbie game writer, please share 🙏! (Also, I just learned what a “game jam” is 🍓… and now I really want to try one! Anyone fancy joining me when I finally get this thing up and running?)