about me | writing | game jams | visual art
DREAMWALKERS
(may 2025 - present)
(may 2025 - present)
Dreamwalkers (originally Sleepwalkers) is a card-based social RPG, framed as a spell used to bring about preternatural lucid dreaming. Weave tales and share secrets to evade a cursed life of dreams, held captive by wicked magick users.
This project is in collaboration with illustrator Kaeden Green. The design process has been a lot of trial, error, and revision; I’ve learned quite a bit about testing what makes a good gameplay loop. However, I am constantly baffled by how much the framing and visuals impact players’ experience and aid in justifying the rules. The game system is mostly complete, and I intend to spend the next two months writing supplemental text, polishing, and marketing.
ITCH PAGE
PROJECT TIMELINE
Summer 2025: Brainstorming, research
I decided that I wanted to make a tabletop game for capstone in the Spring of 2025. Originally, the project was intended to be a trick-taking game inspired by the likes of euchre and bridge, with a shell of roleplay around it. I was also inspired by Mafia, not only for its day and night cycle: it has a clarity that allows for both easy verbal explanation and a variety of play styles. These precedents remain in every iteration, despite how much the gameplay has changed.
At first I was a lot more attached to the function and aesthetic of a standard deck of cards. The jokers were a major part of this, acting as wildcards that were also central to a scrapped version of the lore. The decision to get rid of jokers entirely came after feedback at PlayNYC in August. At this point, I was working as a solo developer.
Fall 2025: Pitch, drafts, playtests, repitch
At the start of the semester, I pitched the game and started playtesting in earnest. A lot of major changes got introduced and immediately scrapped during this period, including a punnett square mechanic and an entirely different set of unique cards. I also experimented a lot with format, mostly through physical and digital zine making.
The plan for the cards was to illustrate them in a 1-bit art style until Kaeden joined the project in November. Her skills opened up the possibility to make something more detailed artistically, which then impacted how I went about framing the game in the future. I pivoted to focusing entirely on writing and designing, and the game having widespread approachability became my number one goal. But, the further I got, the more I realized that making something “universal” is an unrealistic north star for an undergraduate trying to publlish a TTRPG. Even the most popular games in the genre have a decently niche audience. Expecting the familiar structure of cards to compensate for this fact was unrealistic. As a result, I pulled the game in the complete opposite direction: abstract, made for someone who sees a blank page and gets excited rather than afraid. While there is a medium between the two that I am hope to reach one day, Dreamwalkers remains squarely in the world of games for storytellers.
Winter 2025-26: Continued playtests, name change (and other revisions), visual development
December and January brought many major opportunities for playtesting. This began with digital responses to an anonymous playtest over Thanksgiving (the leftmost image above contains excerpts of this feedback). At Boshi’s Place in Brooklyn, I presented a new prototype with the rest of my graduating class, and I had the chance to better exhibit the enviroment where Dreamwalkers belongs. Then, I had the privilege of showcasing at Magfest, where I got sincere and thorough feedback from strangers willing to sit with the game in its unfinished state. Both experiences were heartening, and gave me the confidence to begin adding visual and textual style to the rules.
Spring 2026: Polish, expansion, marketing, publishing
At the start of the semester, I pitched the game and started playtesting in earnest. A lot of major changes got introduced and immediately scrapped during this period, including a punnett square mechanic and an entirely different set of unique cards. I also experimented a lot with format, mostly through physical and digital zine making.
The plan for the cards was to illustrate them in a 1-bit art style until Kaeden joined the project in November. Her skills opened up the possibility to make something more detailed artistically, which then impacted how I went about framing the game in the future. I pivoted to focusing entirely on writing and designing, and the game having widespread approachability became my number one goal. But, the further I got, the more I realized that making something “universal” is an unrealistic north star for an undergraduate trying to publlish a TTRPG. Even the most popular games in the genre have a decently niche audience. Expecting the familiar structure of cards to compensate for this fact was unrealistic. As a result, I pulled the game in the complete opposite direction: abstract, made for someone who sees a blank page and gets excited rather than afraid. While there is a medium between the two that I am hope to reach one day, Dreamwalkers remains squarely in the world of games for storytellers.
Winter 2025-26: Continued playtests, name change (and other revisions), visual development
December and January brought many major opportunities for playtesting. This began with digital responses to an anonymous playtest over Thanksgiving (the leftmost image above contains excerpts of this feedback). At Boshi’s Place in Brooklyn, I presented a new prototype with the rest of my graduating class, and I had the chance to better exhibit the enviroment where Dreamwalkers belongs. Then, I had the privilege of showcasing at Magfest, where I got sincere and thorough feedback from strangers willing to sit with the game in its unfinished state. Both experiences were heartening, and gave me the confidence to begin adding visual and textual style to the rules.
Spring 2026: Polish, expansion, marketing, publishing
Aside from a few minor changes to roleplay mechanics, the gameplay features are now locked. Our priority is now to make sure that interplay between the visuals, rules, and experience playing the game is successful. We will be presenting at PAX East, and hope to publish in April.