By Jenna Hume

Dexter and I had the privilege of attending this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA, specifically the Narrative Summit. GDC is an annual conference for the game development community, with lectures, an expo, and networking opportunities. This was a first for both of us, as the 2020 conference Dexter was supposed to attend ended up being canceled (as we all probably know). So we arrived in San Francisco with excitement and anticipation! 

GDC was a truly inspiring experience. Every person we met came with an exciting new story to hear. The sessions we attended taught us new things about game design and narrative that will surely come in handy in our work.

All of the sessions we attended were helpful, but here are the few we’d like to particularly shout-out: Dan Gabriel’s talk on the narrative design in Lost Words: Beyond the Page; Michelle Clough’s take on writing romance and using kindness coins vs. a chemistry casino; Evan Skolnick’s storytelling workshop; and Lucien Soulban’s tips for surviving the monetization of games. These sessions taught us a lot about player psychology, handling heavy topics in gaming, and more. We thank all the speakers for their time and insight shared at GDC.

We also met various writers, designers, and developers, including new and current clients. It was great to finally see everyone face-to-face and have fruitful conversations. These are connections that we hope to continue to cultivate over the next several months.

 Here are some of the key highlights from our trip: 

• Experiencing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time between sessions;
• Chatting with other attendants in the beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens outside the convention center; 
• Attending a writers’ meet-up, where we connected with aspiring writers from across the world;
• And the TransPerfect party, where we closed out our time at GDC, with good company, music, and food.

Overall, our time at GDC was a whirlwind of a week, filled with new insight and friendships. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience, and we hope to return to GDC!

If you’d like to learn more about GDC, look here for more information! Maybe we’ll see you there in the future!

Brunette Games Founder Lisa Brunette is a member of the Professional Women's Alliance, a group of civic-minded entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who aspire to grow personally and professionally through relationships. As a woman-owned company with a majority female staff, Brunette Games receives camaraderie and support from affiliation with PWA. We also enjoy the opportunity to give a hand up to others by promoting the PWA Scholarship Fund.

The scholarship provides financial assistance to students either starting or transitioning their career paths. Awards range from USD 500-5,000, and recipients can use the funds on tuition, educational supplies, and/or fees for classes.

The deadline is fast approaching! It's April 15. You can print and scan the application, either sending it via snail mail or email (faster). ONLY COMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED. You do not have to be located in St. Louis to be eligible. Please spread the word, and best of luck to all applicants!

By Jenna Hume

Brunette Games is proud to announce the release of the story-driven puzzle game City Escape Garden Blast Story. It has been a true team effort to create the Filburn family and their world in collaboration with client Sparkling Society. Lisa Brunette, Dexter Woltman, and I all had a hand in writing and designing this game, with Lisa providing the initial concept and Dexter and I designing the chapter narratives and task flows as well as writing all dialogue. In City Escape, the Filburn family—Melanie, David, Chloe, and Ben—flee the hustle and bustle of city life to create a home on a farm in the countryside. But do the Filburns have what it takes to run their own homestead? Their grumpy neighbor Owen certainly doesn’t think so!

Trailer

Official Description

Want to take an offline break from the city and escape to the countryside to build your dream home? Design homes, play colorful puzzles, beat challenging levels, and harvest your way through the exciting story of Melanie and her family, who try to turn an abandoned farm into a dream home. Will they be able to overcome all the drama and live happily ever after with your help?

Find out in this offline game: City Escape - Garden Blast Story! In this story-driven match-3 blast puzzle game with memorable characters, animals, and exciting quests, you move from the city and design, decorate, and restore an old farm house in the countryside. It's a great city island family adventure. Together, you'll build, restore, renovate and customize the entire farm and its buildings and garden. Far away from the escaped city, you will need to solve mysteries and puzzles, follow a story about village life, and renovate a mansion garden while having a blast!

Play addictive mini puzzle games with bubbles and fruity boosters to earn stars! Complete quests and tasks and beat challenging levels! In this village life simulator, each quest or task will unfold a piece of drama with the characters from your city family in the countryside landscape.

FEATURES
- See how the adventurous story unfolds for the lovely family
- The island is yours! Restore the area into a dream village: decorate it with numerous items, grow gardens in the various farm landscapes, take care of the animals and countryside
- Beat colorful levels and use fruity boosters
- Meet other interesting characters and watch them interact with each other
- Enjoy the beautiful landscapes: design homes, houses, gardens. Farm and build and solve puzzles at the same time!

City Escape is available to play today on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.