Video Games and Tabletops
I love what I do. And you'll love it, too!
I'm a professional writer with over four years of experience working on Cartoons, Comics, Video Games, and more. Currently, I am a freelance writer for Hoyoverse , where I write scripts for their tie-in materials! I have also done work for Serpent Sea, Guinea Pig Press, and more.
My writing has been featured on Den of Geek and Eldritch Tales Magazine. I'm currently open to commissions, freelance work, or full-time employment.
Video Games and Tabletops
Working closely with the lead dev, Yuji, I was tasked with writing branching dialogue trees and nonlinear narratives for an upcoming Hard Sci-fi tactical RPG.
He stumbled into town one day, smeared with blood and greasepaint. Mothers clutched their children and made the sign of The King as he passed, but I’d never been one for superstition. I welcomed him, as I do all my patrons, with a soft bench, a drink, and a burger. “Honkabout,” he called it. A tradition among the Children of Ronald. A punishment. A pilgrimage.
I had the privilege of writing and designing quests as a designer for Genfanad, a lovely fantasy-comedy MMORPG inspired by games like Runescape and the writings of humorists like Terry Pratchett.
I had the great fortune to contribute characters and a brief adventure supplement for this book highlighting notable figures in the city of Sigil.
I had the immense privilege of working as a narrative designer for this surreal, dreamlike, lo-fi horror game that dives into the dream-world of a landscaper working through immense and seemingly cyclical grief. The full release of the game is currently under development, but a demo has been put together for submission to LSDJAM 2022-2023.
Comics
"You know what the most important thing you can be is? It's not being strong or smart. It's being understood. If people understand you, then they can like you. And if they like you, they'll do anything you ask. But if they don't, you will die alone, unloved. Is that what you want?"
"Bloodless, Deathless, Fighting like devils. Had I perished in the Somme? Had this war, like cancer, spread to hell itself?"
Game Writing & Narrative Design
This is a simple XL spreadsheet I used to outline the emotes, dialogue, and scripting for a simple, harvest-moon-inspired game. This was mostly practice to see if I could master the tone and structure.
When the king of a fantasy realm fails to pay his stonemasons, the player must work with the rebellious princess to form the realm's first labor union. The quest for worker's writes will take the player on a journey filled with giant spiders, a cult of weightlifters, and a troll patisserie!
“Absolution is material, shaped by duty and inlaid with faith.” This is a spec piece for a narrative design exercise. I wanted to create a standard three-paragraph faction outline and some single-paragraph sub factions.
Journalism and Features
Features Over 20 years after its debut, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's world-building set a fantasy standard that may never be surpassed. You dream of scorched vistas. A mysterious voice resonates through your fitful dreams, ensuring you that you are being watched.
In the veritable ocean of survival-crafting indie games flooding the Steam catalog, it often takes something special to really stand out from the crowd. Valheim, for example, used lo-fi graphics and robust combat while Subnautica used its deep-sea environment to force players into thinking with three dimensions.
Demons, dysphoria, and the healing power of art: indie developer Nikki Kalpa sits down with Gamerzy magazine to talk about her inspirations and struggles that fueled her debut horror title They Speak From the Abyss which blends dungeon crawling with a dark psychological thriller.