RMMV Granny Games

[Fring Frang]

Download available here!

Synopsis:

People memorialize their family members in many ways. Could video games serve as a memento of loved ones?

By creating four different games about my grandmothers, I hope to explore this question and discover ways of honouring elders through interactive media. The Granny Games project was created as part of my time as Media Artist in Residence with UNB's Department of Culture and Media Studies.

Duration: about 30 minutes

I invite you to download the game and play without reading further details. If you would like to know more about each of the four games, read on:

Spoiler: game descriptions

The first game is a simulated visit. Players arrive at Margie’s house, are invited in, discuss several subjects, and are even offered homemade brownies and date squares. Margie’s dialogue is presented by way of voice recordings and subtitles.

The second game is a little weird, since Audrey passed away during the development of the game. I took a meta approach and describe the game that could have been and why it would have represented my grandmother.

In the third game, players learn about Anne by listening to her talk about her six children. While players can choose to ask about the children in any order, three frame stories play out in a determined order in between, ensuring a certain degree of continuity amid player choice.

The fourth and final game is a meditative point-and-click game set in the graveyard where Marilyn is buried. Players navigate the graveyard, see new visuals appear and listen to a dynamic soundscape.

Genre: Each game is different: two play similar to a visual novel, with photos and audio of my grandmas. One is a minimalist adventure game with narration, and the last one is a point-and-click.

Screenshots:



Trailer:

 

[Orb]

Looks strangely interesting, are those your real grandmothers? I will try it out since I'm very curious

 

[Fring Frang]

Looks strangely interesting, are those your real grandmothers? I will try it out since I'm very curious

They are indeed my real grandmas! They didn't totally understand what we were doing, but they were excited to be in a video game haha

 

[Semko]

hahah so nice, grandma and computer science.

 

[Orb]

I just tried your game, and I think it was a beautiful experience!

Visiting Margie and having some brownies, joining Audrey in her adventure, listening Anne's story about her children and the emotive memento you planned for Marilyn. All of it was quite an experience that makes me want to visit them all at least once in my life haha (I lived in Canada a year ago)

I think is so sweet your grandmothers helped you out with this project, I was honestly not expecting hearing their voices at all, and that made it 1000 times better (in my opinion). The pixel art is just wonderful and the music is captivating.

A couple of things I'd like to suggest/point out:

Spoiler

>You could put all the files inside the .rar within one folder, so the player doesn't have to create a new folder when extracting the files.
>When visiting Anne, I couldn't click on the very left picture (which I think it was Michael?), so I had to use the spacebar. All other photos worked fine with mouse-clicking.
>It'd be nice if, after the credits, the player could go back to the selection screen and choose any of the grandmothers that were unlocked previously.

My favorite "stage" was Margie's. She seems to be a very interesting and lovely lady

Also, sorry for your lost. Audrey and Marilyn would both be very proud of what you've done, they certainly would have enjoined this game as much as I did!

 

[Fring Frang]

Hey thanks for the feedback! I'll consider your suggestions for sure. Glad you enjoyed the granny simulations

 

[chrrsy]

This looks pretty cool!
I'll be sure to check it out once I have the time.

 

[trevers18]

I really, really enjoyed this game a lot. I felt so close to your grandmas and to you, and it was really sweet the way you commemorated them in the way they would have wanted. I liked that Anne's story was about her children because of how much she wanted to be a mom, and I kind of teared up at Audrey's game because it was so cute. I loved your little memento for Marilyn as well. It was really sweet and I'm positive she would have loved it. Margie's game was really, really cute and I liked listening to her play guitar. I like the idea of a game tribute to your family and I think you executed it very well. Thank you for letting me experience the lives of the wonderful grandmas you have. I really loved it!

 

[Fring Frang]

Wow, thanks for the detailed feedback, trevers18! I'm glad you enjoyed your time with my grandmas.