Project info
- Developer Nicole Meenan
- Showcase year 2025
- Programme Game Design and Production
Synopsis
My practical project aims to research how the horror genre uses fear to communicate serious issues. The topic of my prototype is centred around gender-based trauma and will explore themes of misogyny and unpacking trauma through dreams. I will make use of self-made visuals, audio, and narrative writing to achieve this. The game aims to evoke discomfort and bewilder the player as they navigate Ophelia’s dream world. Viewer discretion is advised. My dissertation research covers research on gothic horror addressing serious topics, the background of gender issues, and the use of video games as art and education.
What has been a highlight of your time at Abertay?
The highlight of being at Abertay for me was the big group project in the second semester of 3rd year. I really enjoyed working in a more professional environment and I feel like it pushed my personal and teamwork skills a lot.
What motivated you to develop/create this project?
The idea started with me wanting to create something story-focused that included giant monsters, as I had a big fixation on 70s Kaiju series like Godzilla and Ultraman. With this, I wanted to make something very player-driven that could facilitate storytelling unique to video games. A lot of video game stories take inspiration from film and are often linear, which I feel isn't taking full advantage of the medium. From there, the idea of a "kaiju sitcom" developed, which instantly became an appealing idea to me. The combination of taking inspiration from existing stories I was invested in and delving into an aspect of game narrative that hasn't been explored as much is what really motivated me to fully develop this project.
What are your hopes and future ambitions for after graduation?
My future ambitions for after graduation are to work on game narrative in some way, be that in my own company or as part of a larger company. However, I don't want to tie myself down to games and would be interested in exploring narrative across many mediums, like film or comics.
