J. Isaac Gadient
Writer + Narrative Designer
I spent my twenties in rock bands and my thirties getting sober—now I make stories for your little computers you keep in your homes and pockets.
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J. Isaac Gadient
Writer + Narrative Designer
The alchemy we explore in game development bringing together elements and strengths of story and game excites, intrigues, and inspires me.
When the news of David Lynch's sudden passing caught me off-guard during the Into Games Advanced Narrative Design Sprint, I immediately joined the FIX YOUR HEARTS OR DIE tribute game jam. I partnered up with Joe Baxter-Webb AKA Doc of The Indie Game Clinic. I found and conscripted seven pixel artists and turned out a really expansive, mind-bending thriller in a month. I wrote the story and dialogue in addition to leading the project, with Joe programming the game in RPG Maker VX Ace.
Jess is basically Laura Palmer and Donna Hayward mixed with the Log Lady. Jane is basically Dana Scully if she'd been played by Patti Harrison.
I utilized David Lynch's method of literally following my dreams to conceive of the game's story, as a way to honor him and his work. This was one of the first visions I had.
Working with the pixel artists to help them understand not just the looks, but the personalities and histories of these characters was a true delight.
I used the narrative design tool Arcweave to plot out the three-act structure and major story beats of the game.
I've followed Chantal Ryan's darkwebSTREAMER project for years now. When she announced the BLUE SKREEN OF DEATH COMPUTER HORROR JAM, I was thrilled. The development of DracOS™ taught me many invaluable lessons about Leadership, Project Management, Scope Creep, and Following the Brief. Some of the team bailed, and some knocked it out of the park. I love this game.
Because the themes were insidiousness and the occult, I planted so many little clues and symbols throughout the game. I spent far too long on the opening splash text, of course. But that stuff brings me joy.
We didn't follow the brief closely enough, but I am still proud how retro this vintage browser window mechanic looks and feels.
Inscryption inspired me to bring this text (2D) adventure back out into a three-dimensional flat in London so that the player character is actually playing a different game, and it's the method by which Dracula is cursing them and usurping their body.
The maps I conceived for the various areas of Sighișoara (Transylvania) were inspired by the maps from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. I loved how that game allowed branching paths, as we explored here.
The Game Maker's Toolkit game jam was an exciting opportunity to work with devs from around the world. Not only did we learn how to work asynchronously as possible due to vastly different time zones, we also got a crash course in communication. Few of us had English as a first language and there were cultural differences as well. We came together as a team and scoped down to a single level with a miniboss. We cut the whole second half of the story I wrote. Darlings are all on the chopping block in gamedev!
I came up with the concept of a daughter using her smarts and tenacity to save her mother from cancer. This created emotional stakes and a strong goal, and the mechanic to meet the GMTK game jam theme of "Scale" by having our player character shrink and ex
An excellent opportunity to practice Narrative Design came when I had the team hooked on my idea to balance the gameplay by imbuing our protagonist with different stats when she's big versus small.
It was thrilling and humbling to see my name side-by-side with so many other devs.
I used my background in Graphic Design to do some Art Direction on the project and seeing the pixel artist and illustrator bring my ideas to life was very satisfying.
I couldn't have asked for a more joyous way to make and release my first game—with one of my very best friends. Isabel and I played together in the rock band Spandrels in the 2010s. We wrote, performed, and toured together. Around this time I'd been playing the game Haven and the characters and relationship between Yu and Kay had strong influence on the lovers Younah and Fran who starred in our RPG as the player characters. My upbringing in the Catholic Church and school system also gave me plenty of fodder for exploring a possible postapocalyptic world.
This game ended up being very queer not on purpose as a goal, but that's just part of who I am and the way I experienced my playthrough of Haven by The Game Bakers. Fran and Younah were really fun to write.
In retrospect, I'm very proud of creating such a strong story with only three characters (not really considering the Eldritch Horrors characters because they didn't have dialogue. Sorry, R'han Tegoth!
There ended up being some dialogue and UI text written by Isabel because not everything made sense immediately in playthroughs. While the shiny, flowery dialogue and set pieces excited my ego, this taught me the lesson that THAT is where the game writing r
It was my idea to turn this into more of an Adventure RPG a Chrono Trigger with the active mechanic of the Lantern helping us meet the brief of "Light in the Dark" for the game jam theme. We mused on what Eldritch horror means, and a big piece is that it's
J. Isaac Gadient
Writer + Narrative Designer
One of the greatest joys in writing and making games is collaborating with others. Particularly I love engaging in discourse about narrative, game design, culture, meaning, and craft with others.
From Gerald Ford (no relation):"I sit down with J. Isaac Gadient, a narrative designer with a deep passion for writing, gameplay mechanics, and world-building.Together, we explore two powerful Lenses of Game Design:✨ The Lens of Imagination – How creativity fuels rich, immersive game worlds.🎯 The Lens of Elegance – Why simplicity and clarity are key to great design.How do game designers balance these two forces? How can imagination enhance a game rather than overcomplicate it? We unpack these questions and more. Plus, we dive into real-world examples of games that masterfully merge creativity and accessibility."
Joe Baxter-Webb of Indie Game Clinic interviews J. Isaac Gadient as a postmortem of the David Lynch game jam, for which they created together FAIRVIEW SLIPSTREAM.They discuss what worked, what didn't, and why.(For better or worse, cut from the YouTube video is roughly a half-hour of discussion about Lynch's films and philosophy.)
In the blog post "5 Tips on Writing: With J. Isaac Gadient", isaac shares their unique perspectives on storytelling, emphasizing the importance of engaging readers through thoughtful narrative techniques.Hooking Your Audience:
isaac discusses unconventional methods to capture attention, suggesting that while certain manipulative tactics exist, authenticity remains key. They challenge writers to reflect on what genuinely keeps readers engaged.Mastering Plot Development:
They advise writers to respect their audience's intelligence, avoid overestimating their own, and continuously question the "why" behind events and character actions. isaac emphasizes the importance of revisiting and reflecting on one's work to allow the story to evolve organically.Effective World-Building Strategies:
isaac cautions against excessive world-building unless it serves the narrative purpose. They encourage writers to consider whether their goal is to create a world that feels vast, full, and lived-in, and to focus their efforts accordingly.Techniques for Character Development:
They suggest allowing characters to surprise both the writer and the audience by letting them grow naturally. isaac points out that characters should not merely serve as mouthpieces for the writer but should exhibit behaviors and decisions that reflect their own unique identities.Crafting Meaningful Decisions:
isaac reflects on the nature of choices in narratives, especially in interactive mediums like games. They note that while not all choices lead to significant changes, the act of making decisions can enhance engagement and provide a sense of agency to the audience.