Together with two IGGI colleagues, we developed a visual novel using Ren’Py for the 3-day IGGI game jam.

We decided to go meta with the concept and created a game jam game about jam. As we were making a visual novel, a genre all about choice and consequence, choosing jams was central to the consequences of the story.

Narrative

Lucy, in the last chapter of her life, crosses the road to reach the stall of jam on the other side. Suddenly, she is hit by a car. As her life flashes before her eyes, follow her story from her childhood memories to a life spent flying among unknown skies, and finally landing in the place she loved the most. Jars of jam connect the past with the future, each decision revealing a new flavour of life and all leading to this one, final moment.

The narrative was split into two key parts: the accident and Lucy’s memories, which were further split into her childhood, young adult, and adult memories.

I was responsible for crafting her young adult memories, which presented two key story beats: a once in a lifetime job opportunity and her romantic relationship’s turning point. The intention was to capture the dreams and possibilities of early adulthood and present the challenges in balancing ambition with budding responsibilities.

The young adult memories followed the childhood memories and so the jam decisions made during the childhood memories intertwined with the jam decisions made in the young adult memories to subsequently impact her later decisions and life choices. Specifically, they impact Lucy’s taste for adventure vs. comfort, and the relationship dynamic with her partner, which will ultimately impact whether or not she takes the job opportunity and whether or not she continues the relationship and is alone or not in her final moments.