Benjamin Wagner

Game Writer, Narrative Designer, Weaver of Worlds

United States

I am a writer and narrative designer with over eight years of professional games industry experience. I excel at delivering engaging, tailor-made content, and I am passionate about creating fantastic fictional worlds for others to enjoy. I have experience writing for all elements of gameplay (including dialogue, barks, and UI text), as well as writing for, casting, and directing voice over. I am skilled with a number of proprietary tools (including Confluence, JIRA, etc.). I also have experience designing game systems and realizing branching narratives in Twine.

My lifelong goal is to reach out and touch the lives of others through compelling storytelling, and to enrich the world around me.

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Portfolio

Game Writing & Screenplays

https://youtu.be/kNL6j5t7RoA
Cutscene | MapleStory: Rise
Cedric's Just Desserts

Voiced dialogue I wrote, cast, and helped direct. This scene takes place at the end of the storyline for the new playable class "Adele", wherein the villain Cedric humorously meets his end.

Short Screenplay
Stuck in An Elevator

A short scene in which three unlikely characters from different franchises find themselves stuck together on an elevator, and which demonstrates my ability to write authentic, believable dialogue for established characters from existing intellectual properties.

Narrative Design

Narrative Analysis | Encounter Design Flowchart
Re-Envisioning The Outer Worlds

In this exercise, I identify the design pillars of The Outer Worlds, envision new storylines for the game which support these pillars, and model an encounter from one hypothetical narrative in flowchart form.

Narrative Design Document
08/27/2013
Robyrt - Narrative Design Document

This document represents the full scope of my narrative plans for Vespyr Game's unpublished platform-adventure game "Robyrt." From character and area descriptions to timeline charts, cinematic style guidelines, and cutscene scripts, the game's story lives on here.

DEIFOS: Warriors of the God - Lore Guide
DEIFOS - Worldbuilding Sample

This is an excerpt of my work from the game design document of DEIFOS: Warriors of the Gods. It features an overview of one of the game’s major nations, and highlights my ability to envision and effectively convey world-building details both big and small.

Prose

Novel Excerpt | Northridge Review
10/1/2011
Those Who Stayed - An Excerpt

Chapter one of a SciFi novel-in-progress following a young man thousands of years in the future.

Game Design

Game Design Document | Apocalypse Tower
Crafting the Post-Apocalypse

GDD I developed for a hobby project "Apocalypse Tower." All of the systems within were hand-designed by me.

Misc

Poem | Northridge Review
3/1/2011
Alone on the Ice

A short narrative poem published in Cal State University Northridge's literary magazine.