Principal game designer on Relationship Goals
Designed and prototyped an educational game for the charity Tender. The game is being used at special education needs and disabilities schools to prevent young people becoming victims or perpetrators of abuse.
I worked on the project for a year during pre-prod and prototyping at Milo Creative. We were a team of two: myself and a creative director.
The game achieved documented positive social impact across all KPIs:
100% reported
improved understanding of healthy relationships.
100% reported
increased confidence to seek or signpost support for relationship concerns.
100% reported
improved relationships with their peers.
“[My favourite part of the project was...] The game because it gave me chances to make mistakes.”
— Young person, 13 years old
Engage with sensitive topics
Allows SEND students to rehearse for real-life scenarios, exploring their rights, expectations and choices in relationships in a fun and age-appropriate way.
Meaningful narrative choices
The players choices determine the health of the Relationship and Romance score that they have with each character. Choices are linked to one of the learning outcomes for each level.
Highly accessible design
The game is designed with accessibility in mind and allows students to play at their own pace.
behind the scenes +
behind the scenes +
User research and testing in SEND schools
I designed and ran various user research sessions in SEND schools. This was a particular challenge as the content had to be adapted into fun and educational workshops for the students while still extracting actionable research results.
Prototyping
I prototyped the first version of the game in Unity 3D, building out the core gameplay loop and a full playable chapter complete with Picrew characters and a narrative arc written by Tender.
I taught the writing team narrative design fundamentals and supported them in crafting meaningful choices for players.
We took the prototype into multiple SEND schools and tested the design in context. We found the game showed potential for lasting, positive impact on how players approach real-life social interactions: empowering them to have healthy, equal relationships that enrich their lives.
