The Stars Between
The Stars Between is a short narrative fishing game about loving and letting go.
Narrative Designer & Lead Producer
Narrative Design
In creating this game, I had the privilege of designing and writing dialogue. I wanted to portray the feeling of uncertainty and resistance to change, and I used the character Rowan to help convey that. Rowan is a complicated but kind person, obviously still in love with their partner, Willow, who is just as complex. On the other hand, Willow seemingly has detached herself from her relationship with Rowan. Through her lack of enthusiasm and dry responses, we, the player, can infer that she is ready to end the relationship.
Being able to write this story as a person who has trouble leaving those I love most to better myself, I felt that to convey the longing and cycle of grief one experiences after a break-up, I have to write out the build-up of a relationship dying.
PRODUCTION STATEMENT
Gameplay
In order to maintain the narrative aspect of this game, as a team we decided to include a fun and short fishing game! The controls are just your mouse, the same as how you would click to continue the dialogue, you can point, click and hold to cast, then click and hold again to catch a fish!
On top of being able to catch the fish, our amazing artist made info sheets of the fish you catch! The fish are based on real fish you can find on any fishing grounds, but since the story takes place in space, they’re space versions of the fish! This incentivizes the player to catch more and more! The info sheets themselves include an image and name of your caught fish, as well as its size.
Another fun feature in this game is your inventory of fish! At the end of every day (level) you choose which fish you’d like to eat for the night. We decided to include this because it allows players to relish in their haul of fish, which in turn also incentivizes them to continue to play until completion.
These mechanics were designed with the player’s narrative experience in mind. The repeated action of fishing while still having to endure excruciatingly sad conversations and moments pushes players to Rowan’s mindset.
For this project, I was given the role of Producer. I took the initiative by creating a production plan, using project management software JIRA, and individually working with my team’s programmer and technical artist to build assets and game mechanics. The game's main plot is the downfall of a relationship that is still full of love and care, but is unfortunately dying. Taking advantage of this tension, the decision to move forward with a fishing game, which pushes concentration and patience, enables players to immerse themselves fully in the experience. As the Producer, I communicated this importance through constant team meetings, team involvement in the character’s development, and excitement for the finished product. Some successes I pride myself on are the completion and the importance of the scope in this project. With quality art assets and established character voices, the actual game (fishing) development came about simply and smoothly.