Cadences: The Story of a Distance and Its Pair

portfolio

(2022.)
Cadences: The Story of a Distance and Its Pair is an asymmetrical storytelling game for two.

Together, players create the story of a relationship’s life, from the moment of its conception until the moment it ends. Maybe your Pair will be a cashier and a customer, a parent and child, two members of a five-person polycule, best friends, or even mortal enemies*.

*Enemies to lovers? Enemies to lovers!

In Cadences, there are two roles for the players: The Distance and The Pair.

The Distance is ever-shifting and mysterious. Playing The Distance means seeking to find words and metaphors to describe something abstract and mutable.

The Pair is human and flawed. Playing The Pair means playing a grounding, concrete role in contrast to the metaphorical and amorphous nature of the Distance.

[Designer/Writer/Creative Director]

Listen to an actual play of Cadences, or pick up a copy of your own!

A Roundup!

dissertation, Process Writing, Soft Chaos

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to update this, and that’s because of something I’ll talk about down below.

First, I promised that I would post my thesis once it was publicly available, and here it is! Hybrid Knowing! You can download the PDF for free from the Spectrum archive:

Marcotte, Jess Rowan (2021). Hybrid Knowing: Preserving Physically and Digitally Entangled Traces in Hybrid Game Design. PhD thesis, Concordia University.

So, why haven’t I been updating this blog with process notes from my latest creative projects? Well, on the one hand, I didn’t do all that much game creation while I was writing my dissertation, and as soon as I defended, I pivoted to helping to launch the Soft Chaos Cooperative! The past few months have been a combination of administrative work and doing my best to rest up after completing such a monumental long-term project.

Exciting news on that front! Soft Chaos was the first project to launch on Comradery as part of the alpha (well, first after the core team of developers from Comradery)! Comradery is a patron/subscription-based service where you can support artists and creators. Importantly, the artists and creators have a big say in Comradery’s decision-making process because Comradery is a cooperative! If you want to support me on there, you can currently donate to Soft Chaos at this link (as they roll out features including locked posts for subscribers, this will get a little more sophisticated). Check us out here!

Finally, now that a chunk of that administrative work is complete, we’ve started a new creative project which I’m really excited about. Process writing remains important to me, so I’ll be trying to keep you updated on the design process here, but a good chunk of that writing, especially the ones with more project-specific details, will be pivoting to Comradery, so I do hope if you’re interested in my design process work, you’ll check us out there. Still, you can expect occasional updates here.

This new project is for two players to enjoy asynchronously, and it came out of a list of ideas that I made for a new method we’re trying. We’re essentially taking turns leading the team in short design projects, aiming to make one project a month. As “captain” for September, I made a list of game ideas and we started our brainstorm from there.

As usual, I used my notebook to map out and connect ideas on the page before any digital work happened. We used one of the ideas as a jumping off point and then, naturally, we latched onto a joke that Squinky made and took it deeper. This will be a game where you get to explore out-of-doors at your own pace, and where you’ll decide how long the game is with your play partner ahead of time.

More to come! I’m pretty stoked about getting to create again!

Doctoral Defence Complete!

autoethnography, dissertation, Process Writing

Hey folks,

I thought that I would take the time to write this because up until now, this blog has focused on my academic process writing. On March 15th, 2021, I defended my doctoral thesis and became Dr. Jess Rowan Marcotte, PhD! My dissertation was accepted as-submitted.

I’ll be sure to update the site with a link to the dissertation when it is available online.

I’m currently in the process of forming a Worker’s Cooperative with Allison Cole and Dietrich Squinkifer called Soft Chaos! You can look forward to more process-focused writing about my projects whenever I’m not limited by the secrecy of making games with publication schedules and similar.

UNLOCK. UNPACK.

portfolio

(2020.)
UNLOCK. UNPACK. is an escape-room-in-a-suitcase… Sort of.

There are infinite clues and no time limits. The experience is for two to three players who are asked to collaborate to solve three puzzles. The goal is to grow closer through shared experience, to build connections to themselves, to each other, and to past players who they may never meet face to face. Everything needed to solve the puzzles is included with the suitcase. (But it’s okay to need a hint or two, or three!) When players solve one of the three puzzles, they gain access to a thematically-linked question, along with the answers of past players. Write to your self, past, present or future, or to a stranger who might need your words, or maybe, to the person sitting next to you. You decide.

A game of connection, exploration and resilience.

DISSERTATION UPDATE: The F***king BOX!

autoethnography, critical making, dissertation, playtest, Process Writing, research

It sure has been a while since I wrote a dissertation blog post. The last time I wrote was right before October 25th, when my students’ project proposals were due, and I had to give detailed feedback to almost 70 students so that they could complete final projects (which I also had to correct). I’m feeling a lot less overworked and a lot better now, although I am still very busy.

I’ve been doing a lot of documentation through photos and through posts on Instagram and Twitter (which I’ve also been screenshotting). I couldn’t do as many design interviews because of the activities I was doing with the person I was collaborating with involved a lot of loud power tools and silent working, punctuated by problem-solving. And there were a lot of finicky things.

I did however keep talking about the project at the lab’s weekly design meeting whenever I could.

In a nutshell, October through November was mostly all about physical crafting. With the puzzles designed and mostly programmed (although there have been tweaks here and there since then), I had to buckle down and do things like designing and embroidering conductive patches (with lots hand-sewing), and finishing up the box, besides the hardware. This also involved sanding and staining.

From there, toward the end of November, most of my energy went to my students and preparing for my deviated septum surgery (which finally happened December 9th). With almost 70 students, getting all the grading done between November 29th and December 9th was certainly an adventure.

The good news is that the project is finished except for a name and a carrying strap, and any fixes I do to things that arise in playtesting (and some already have, like some errant shapes that I didn’t realize were there). We finished the box just before New Years, and toasted the completion on New Years Day with a shot. I realized that I might be a designer because I enjoy problem-solving and working with all of the issues that we encountered, whereas the person that I was collaborating with was more frustrated with the process.

Since then, I finessed a few things (used steel wool to smooth the box a bit, and wrapped wires with gaffer’s tape, for example), and sewed a cover to protect the case.

I am really pleased with the results of the limited playtesting I’ve done so far (4 playthroughs with a total of 8 people in various configurations, 2 groups of 2, 1 group of 3, and one solo player). Based on the experience of the solo player, I’ve decided that, as I thought might be the case, 2-3 is the sweet spot for the number of players.

I am next bringing the suitcase to QGCarnival, where I hope to play a few rounds. It’s QGCon’s official fundraiser!

After that, everything is likely to stall for a few weeks as I am scheduled for top surgery on the 16th. I hope to get a little bit of work done (getting the audio transcription stuff going) but I will need a lot of rest.

So, I’ve got playtesting to do this semester, and then need to write my dissertation, I’m leading the QGCon team, I’m getting top surgery, and I’m helping to plan an exhibition over the summer. That’s a lot less than last semester, even though it’s a lot! Oh, and I may apply for a conference or two. I really want to apply to CGSA if I can find the time this year.

DISSERTATION: When recharging is the biggest problem

autoethnography, critical making, dissertation, Process Writing

Well, it’s been a while since I wrote, and working title “escape suitcase” is moving — a bit slowly, maybe, but still, it’s moving.

One thing that I am noticing is how much the fact that I have to slow down to physically make things gives me opportunities to think about the design of the project and let things percolate.

I am also noticing, importantly, the limits of my ability to document. Documentation is great until it’s getting in the way of the work, so I have had to make some compromises about recording design conversations, for example, because I’m in a room full of flying sawdust and it would be silly to ruin a recording device that way, or to make someone listen to a saw blade and then discuss whether we have to cut it more before turning the sawblade again. So, where documentation was getting in the way of my ability to do the work, I either didn’t document or delayed documentation. Some parts are lost, but it’s still way more than we usually get from the design process, and there’s already so much lost as my brain continually works out small problems or thinks about the project without my volition.

A problem area that I wasn’t expecting is power sources for my theatrical light-up and vibration patches. So far, the tech works fine when plugged into my computer. I bought batteries that should be able to do the trick, but the tiny USB LiPo charger that I bought on Adafruit just isn’t cutting the mustard. So, instead, I bought a larger charger (after doing some research, and at great expense), but while it has ports on the balance boards for 2S (2 cell, essentially) through to 6S LiPo batteries, it does not have 1S ports.

So. I bought batteries. Too small. I bought new batteries. Couldn’t charge them (or so I thought at first, because they just weren’t being supplied enough power). I bought a charger. Still can’t charge my batteries.

I am currently testing a non-ideal solution with the tiny Adafruit USB charger. It turns out there’s a spot at the back that you can solder closed to make it give 500mAh instead of 100…That’ll be 5 times faster but still mean 5 hours (I’m guessing?) for charging 1 battery. For now, I’m returning the charger I bought and will keep looking at solutions, including buying more batteries and maybe a different charger.

We’re into the fiddly bits of the project, like whether to cut wood 2 millimeters in one direction or another to hide certain secrets better, or into designing cases for the various boards that need to be screwed into the suitcase. That stuff, though occasionally time-consuming, given the 3D modeling and printing involved, is going fairly well.

So, finishing the actual suitcase (sanding and hardware, maybe drilling a few holes for power supplies) is still on my task list, along with soldering and making these conductive patches, finding a solution for the batteries, finishing programming for one of the puzzles, and writing the rules/frame for the game.

Oh, I also wanted to mention something really nice that happened! TAG now has a design conversation group that meets every Wednesday — which is also really nice but not what I wanted to mention. At a previous week, I had mentioned my intent to use a kind of web-based Konami code for one of the inputs I was building, and Pippin had offered to help if I ran into trouble. So, the next week, because I am very busy with teaching and a SSHRC Connection grant, I hadn’t had the chance to make much progress. Later on that day, Pippin talked to me and had made a small, stripped down version of the program that I needed! It kind of felt like someone bringing you a coffee when you’re tired or sending you a card when you’re feeling down. I really appreciated it, and it reminds me of how important community and friendship is, even when working on ostensibly solo projects.

That’s one thing about these projects: I worked on them in three very different ways, from being isolated and alone in Fort McMurray on Flip the Script!, to wanting to forge ahead alone and be as independent as possible for TRACES, and needing to learn to ask for help, to recognizing for this untitled game just how much having people to turn to while making TRACES mattered, and making collaboration a clearer part of this project, knowing from the start that I wouldn’t be able to do an adequate job of all the woodworking alone.

Back to the title of this post: recharging my physical, Lithium Polymer batteries is one problem that I’ve been having, but it also definitely refers to the feeling of being overwhelmed by work right now, and not wanting to burn out again, like what happened while I was working on TRACES. It’s not the dissertation that I’m pushing too hard on, though! It’s stress from other areas — teaching, writing grants, planning a conference, my spouse being in the market for a new job but also being close to burnout himself, continued nonsense with his old employer… Anyway.

I am trying to be really careful, but there is definitely pressure to overwork: my students need feedback and need my time to be able to continue their work, QGCon attendees and team members are relying on me to try and get as much funding as possible, and there’s time pressure to finish my PhD because my funding will end in the spring. I’m saving what I can, but since my spouse is currently on Unemployment Insurance, there’s some worry there too.

DISSERTATION: Fiddly Electronic Bits and Planning

autoethnography, critical making, dissertation, Process Writing

This is just a small update because it’s the kind of thing I’m likely to forget in hindsight. I just spent about two and a half hours on the internet and on the Adafruit website figuring out a way to make my patches more visually appealing and provide more feedback. There’s still going to have to be some work to do to get all these wires to behave, but hopefully I can manage something compact and safe (I’ll be using lithium ion battery packs for part of this). I’m especially concerned about shielding the lithium ion batteries.

Generally speaking, my plan is to sandwich a few things together. I’m hoping to make a flora power neopixels and a small vibrational motor. I have to handle where to place the LEDs and the motor and where to run their respective wires, then where and how to shield the battery while maintaining access to the flora (maybe some kind of slit in the material). I also have neopixels that I want to shine through part of the material. Then, there’s the wire to actually turn the patches into buttons, which has to attach into the conductive thread at the back. It should work out fine but there may be some trial and error.

Meanwhile, the box is nearly done, though I may need to add holes to accommodate some of this hardware… We have to make lids for the inner boxes and assemble everything with the hardware. We also have to make a handle for one of the outside puzzles. From there, most of the puzzles are already done and ready to go except for this last one, which is more involved. I have some re-writing and adjustments to make to the prototype of the puzzle, which I plan to try and do today, and I have physical crafting and embroidering and arduino programming to do in addition to the program that will display all this text and cycle through it. I thought I would want to do this with a visual/WYSIWYG program like Construct 2, but it might be easier to just have the RPI boot up and start the program if it is javascript-based.

I’m off to try and rewrite the last puzzle to make it a bit more of a riddle! We’ll see how it goes!

THIS IS FINE

portfolio

(2019.)
THIS IS FINE: An Apocalyptic Networking Event, by Jenny Bacon, Allison Cole, Jess Rowan Marcotte, and Dietrich Squinkifer, is a short larp about networking during a literal apocalypse. “Never acknowledge the Apocalypse. That would be impolite.”

You can download the PDF needed to run the game here.

[Designer/Writer]

WINNER, GOLDEN COBRA 2019 for BEST APOCALYPTIC GAME.

The Golden Cobra Judges say:
Here is what the Golden Cobra Judges had to say:
“‘Never acknowledge the apocalypse. That would be impolite.’ This Is Fine is the kind of game that so very much inspires us that we invent a new category for it. In this case, a lot of y’all were designing with the end of the world in mind, so we came up with the Best Apocalyptic Game award. This game is the one that best expresses that unique feeling of simultaneously having to bow and scrape in the neoliberal corporate dystopian present and having to live with the knowledge that it’s all so freakin’ pointless because the world is ending. A straightforward, tight design that welcomes new players and lets players play close to home without surrendering them to the crushing terror of it all.”

[This is Fine] deals with a very specific intersection between the immanence of the end of the world and the equal immanence of needing to go to work in an empty corporate hellscape. It takes us to a corporate networking event while the *literal apocalypse* is destroying all relevance and context outside. But you REALLY need that job so…. The act structure captures Humans In Denial wonderfully.”

DISSERTATION: Escape Suitcase Progress & Challenges

autoethnography, critical making, dissertation, Process Writing, research

I thought I’d write a little update to say that the physical making of the escape suitcase is going pretty darn well. I’m very happy with the look so far. The structure of the box itself is done, and the outside parts are done (but not stained and the hardware isn’t on). Next, we have to plan and make the inside of the box (I’d list some parts but I want to avoid spoilers for the solutions).

What makes that a bit difficult is the fact that I still haven’t managed to finish that last puzzle. I talked about it at the new design group that’s forming at TAG, I had some conversations with Tom about it, and still, I’m having a hard time getting into it. The general advice seems to be to try and change my frame of reference/point of view — either in terms of the puzzle type, or the theme, or the interaction. That’s what I’ll be trying my best to do today.

For my good friend Gina’s birthday, we played an escape room yesterday — we won! The one thing we got stuck on was…maybe a bit unfair given the horizon of expectations that the escape room genre sets up, and the positioning of the clue in the room, along with some red herrings, which in the end required us to revisit a puzzle. We had to ask for a hint on that one! But from there, it was pretty smooth. It was on the whole a very well-designed room but, I have to say, the thing that I am trying to avoid in this last puzzle, which is feeling that there’s a kind of disconnect (or only a shallow connection) between the puzzles in the room and the narrative was definitely present. It’s definitely hard to design puzzles and narratives that fill fit those puzzles without being stilted, but I think it’s a worthwhile goal for escape rooms, and for my project.

Okay, time to try designing this puzzle once again!