a story about a creator and his creation
What Draws Me In is a 2D platformer about an artist who wakes up to find himself trapped within his own sketchbook. Befriending one of the characters he had drawn, the two journey together to find a way to escape as they confront and question their place in the world.
A narrative game with a focus on the struggle of self-identity, in particular queer identity, this story can be experienced from the itch.io link above.
This little game of mine was created from my desire to add a little more colour into the biggest canvas that is our imagination. As a tabletop-roleplaying enthusiast with a keen interest in creating and playing characters, I wanted to create a little story about the way we use works of art - animations, films, games, and so on - to express who we are without the prejudice of the real world.
As someone under the LGBTQI umbrella, I also wanted to create and share a story inspired by my own experiences in the bumpy journey of learning to be comfortable with who I am, in the hopes of giving a simple message to those that need to hear it - be proud of who you are. Only you get to decide who you are, no one else.
What Draws Me In is a project with a focus on its narrative. That being said, because this is a solo project, it meant I was simultaneously the game designer, writer, artist, animator and programmer - while it was a very difficult job for me to do, in the end it has allowed me to improve and be more confident in my skills as a 2D game developer. Furthermore, with my background in digital art, I envisioned the visual aesthetic to be like a painting in your own sketchbook that has come to life, where the barrier between the Creator and the Created can be broken.
Inspirations include myself, the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop-RPG, Celeste (2018), GRIS (2018) and Sacramento (2017).
