You and Emerald were inseparable before adult life split you apart. But when her favorite Vocaloid songs, written by the music artist nostraightanswer, transport you to a mysterious realm at the edge of a black hole, you learn not all is as it seems with the friend you used to know…

Distant Melody combines unique, movement-driven rhythm mechanics and choice-based storytelling. Chapter 1 represents a vertical slice of the full Distant Melody experience, and is playable on itch.io for PC, Mac, Android devices, and in-browser. The game uses nostraightanswer’s song wishing well with permission from the artist.

On this project, I…

• Lead a multi-disciplinary team of 12 across multiple years of development, culminating in an itch.io release.

• Successfully led both the narrative and development teams at once, juggling multiple Kanban boards, processes, and sets of deliverables.

• Created a revamped timeline and list of milestones, clarifying the team’s goals across all domains of the project – including prototyping, development, playtesting, QA, promotion, and team recruitment.

• Designed the game’s core mechanic, wrote detailed documentation to make it easier for developers to implement, and oversaw playtesting to determine ways to improve it.

• Communicated the game’s narrative and mechanical vision to the team, helping them focus their efforts.

• Wrote script content, reviewed other writers’ scripts, and coached them on how to match the game’s intended tone and style.

• Ran the interview process for new team members, successfully recruiting top-tier programmers for the final push to release.

• Organized multiple game nights and other team bonding activities to boost team familiarity and cohesion.