The Songwriter

Play as a college student trying to navigate through an emotionless life! Music is your only weapon against the monotony of the everyday. But are you in control of it, or does it control you? 

-------- Artist Statement ---------

The Songwriter - Cycle Game

For my cycle game, I drew upon the cycle I've noticed in my life of how creative expression works. The "meaning gap" I introduced was by titling each passage with a song name from rock bands that have influenced me and the character of the game, such as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and ABBA. The songs chosen reflect the theme of each passage.

The thematic argument I intended to make with the structure of my cycle is that creative expression needs to be drawn from something emotionally meaningful. In my game, you experience three different encounters that inspire the main character to express their feelings through song. The cycle ends once the emotion has been expressed, and the character returns to stage one, where they feel as if there’s nothing left to draw upon.

Another theme I wanted to demonstrate is that art can often feel magical. In my story, it's unclear whether the character is in control of their need to be creative or if the need to create controls him like a spell. There is ambiguity.

The feedback I received that helped me improve the game was mostly to break down the text into smaller sections. Initially, I had much larger blocks of text. It was also very insightful to see which parts of the game got a reaction and which were ineffective.