hello.
I’m Jess Rowan Marcotte.
I am an interdisciplinary artist working at the junction of interactive theatre, game design, and digital technologies. I design all kinds of interactive experiences, from digital games, to toys, to larps and theatrical experiences, to tabletop roleplaying games, to installations, to alternative controllers and hybrid game work. What unifies my design work is a general focus on queer, intersectional feminist themes and design approaches, as well as explorations of awkwardness, vulnerability, and intimacy. I try to create games that encourage people to reflect on their relationship to themselves and others.
JESS ROWAN MARCOTTE
Dr. Jess Rowan Marcotte (they/them) is a queer mixed white-passing Mi’kmaw game designer, writer, maker and researcher. Their work focuses on interactive experiences of all sorts, including interactive installations, larps, tabletop games, alt control/hybrid games, video games, and more. They are the lead co-organizer of the Queerness and Games Conference (QGCon) and one-third of Soft Chaos, a worker’s co-op that designs intimate, vulnerable interactive experiences. As a consultant game designer, they have worked with a wide variety of clients, including UNHCR Innovation Services and WHO Academy. Their most recent solo work includes TRACES, a hybrid game about trans experiences and time travel, and UNLOCK. UNPACK., exploring carry-on suitcases, puzzles, and written messages as tools for creating intimacy between strangers who may never meet face to face.
I’m @jekagames on Twitter. You can also support my work by buying some of my games on itch.io here and here, or supporting Soft Chaos on Comradery.