Class/Organization: Thesis Project (USC)

Project Timeline: Fall 2011 - Spring 2012

Team: Kyla Gorman (Director, Designer, Programmer), Ashley Zeldin (Producer), Luke Peterson (3D Artist), Tom Furey/Gherix (2D Artist), Chandra Thompson (Sound Designer), Brent Hengeveld & Giuseppe Vasapolli (Composers)

Description:
Intimation is a game about perspective and sense of self. Over the course of the game, the player becomes three different creatures inhabiting an alien planet. Each creature has its own unique visual style, its own controls, and its own goals within the ecosystem. By coming to master each character, the player has three radically different experiences of the same space, framed by the mechanics and point of view.

Intimation was created as part of a thesis project about the self and the power of empathy and characterization offered by games. Because games are interactive, they place responsibility for action on the player. Because of this, the player can have the experience of actively becoming a character in the game in a very unique way. This project explores the power of this characterization tool to give players a unique sense of "self" informed primarily by the mechanics of the game, rather than more traditional narrative tools such as dialogue and exposition.

• Thesis Paper (PDF)
• Game - PC Version
• Game - Mac Version