AFFIRMATIONS 2.0: The Politics of Liberation and Exploration of Healing in Digital Game
MFA Thesis | Committee: Dr. Wu, Dr. Nguyen, and Dr. Knight
Released Date: April 30, 2022
Itchio Link: diamondebp.itch.io/affirmations
MFA Thesis | Committee: Dr. Wu, Dr. Nguyen, and Dr. Knight
Released Date: April 30, 2022
Itchio Link: diamondebp.itch.io/affirmations
A short game about Healing, Self-care and the Exploration of Community.
Traverser sprawling levels, interact with journal prompts, encounter unknown enemies and immerse yourself in the world of Affirmations!
Artist Statement:
Negative thoughts plague the self-consciousness of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and affect how we proceed through our days. Through my own struggle with this I developed a personal coping mechanism of visualizing and facilitating an encounter with both the negative and positive attributed versions of myself as a Black woman.
Affirmations is the Visualization of these encounters. This project directly addresses the concerns of mental health perceptions in the traditionally underrepresented group of Black women and children by highlighting the contributing factors of internalized systemic oppression, and this project is grounded in the theoretical framework of pleasure activism and healing as community care work in order to resist neoliberalist perceptions of health as individualistic responsibilities. Creating Affirmations was a love letter to my self, my black community and all of the women who have nurtured and guide my growth.
HOW TO PLAY
Traverse through all 4 level in Affirmations 2.0 completing mission objectives and exploring the levels for hidden events, but watch out for the negative thoughts that will be prowling the level!
CONTROLS
WASD: Move
SPACE: Jump
P: Pause Menu
C: Cutscene
ESC: To Exit Game
FEATURES
Traverser sprawling levels, interact with journal prompts, encounter unknown enemies and immerse yourself in the world of Affirmations!
Artist Statement:
Negative thoughts plague the self-consciousness of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and affect how we proceed through our days. Through my own struggle with this I developed a personal coping mechanism of visualizing and facilitating an encounter with both the negative and positive attributed versions of myself as a Black woman.
Affirmations is the Visualization of these encounters. This project directly addresses the concerns of mental health perceptions in the traditionally underrepresented group of Black women and children by highlighting the contributing factors of internalized systemic oppression, and this project is grounded in the theoretical framework of pleasure activism and healing as community care work in order to resist neoliberalist perceptions of health as individualistic responsibilities. Creating Affirmations was a love letter to my self, my black community and all of the women who have nurtured and guide my growth.
HOW TO PLAY
Traverse through all 4 level in Affirmations 2.0 completing mission objectives and exploring the levels for hidden events, but watch out for the negative thoughts that will be prowling the level!
CONTROLS
WASD: Move
SPACE: Jump
P: Pause Menu
C: Cutscene
ESC: To Exit Game
FEATURES
- 4 Expansive levels with character interactions
- Writing and journaling prompts to engage with
- Running or choosing to interact with negative
The Affirmations game 1.0
Artist's Statement
Based on a personal coping mechanism to combat imposter syndrome and negative world outlooks based on varying factors i created the arcade platformer game Affirmations 1.0 to visualize and digitize my process for combating negative thoughts. A central portion of this game focuses on and utilizes video games as a medium to explore the relationship between negative thoughts and positive affirmations. The motive of the game is to fight your negative thoughts with positive affirmations
Goal: Face your negative thoughts and win by defeating them with affirmations.
The Bold Roast: Podcast publication on Affirmation game and Creative Resilience.
Link Here
SHADOWS
Artist's Statement
I have been using twine to get better at my storytelling abilities. I created a twine game in which you are participating in an interactive story.You can experience the story from two different perspectives of the people in the room
I also included the full story below.
Artist's Statement
I have been using twine to get better at my storytelling abilities. I created a twine game in which you are participating in an interactive story.You can experience the story from two different perspectives of the people in the room
I also included the full story below.
PAPER
Artist’s Statement
“Paper” is intended to introduce the player to the diverse communities I grew up in. The main objective of “Paper” is for the player to search the town for batteries in order to participate in a remote-control car race happening later that day. During my childhood mini events such as neighborhood kids getting together to race remote control cars was important because it was an event that was accessible to me. An important aspect of this project is bridging my past and present. I establish connections to my past by presenting the main character as myself, using a low polygon graphic style to replicate video game graphic in the early 2000s’ I connect the present through being the main creative developer for this project.
Creating this video game project pays homage to the idea and central reasoning behind my passion and strive to be a video game developer, which is creating the video games I want to see. I create video games where myself, or any other person marginalized person can be the main character with no clauses or special circumstances. Through the use of Non-Playable Characters inhabiting the world I introduce the player to the people that lived in my community and the unique cultures they brought with them.” Paper” bridges the gap I saw when I was child by placing a black girl as the central focus and combining the diverse communities, and thus create one cohesive world.
Artist’s Statement
“Paper” is intended to introduce the player to the diverse communities I grew up in. The main objective of “Paper” is for the player to search the town for batteries in order to participate in a remote-control car race happening later that day. During my childhood mini events such as neighborhood kids getting together to race remote control cars was important because it was an event that was accessible to me. An important aspect of this project is bridging my past and present. I establish connections to my past by presenting the main character as myself, using a low polygon graphic style to replicate video game graphic in the early 2000s’ I connect the present through being the main creative developer for this project.
Creating this video game project pays homage to the idea and central reasoning behind my passion and strive to be a video game developer, which is creating the video games I want to see. I create video games where myself, or any other person marginalized person can be the main character with no clauses or special circumstances. Through the use of Non-Playable Characters inhabiting the world I introduce the player to the people that lived in my community and the unique cultures they brought with them.” Paper” bridges the gap I saw when I was child by placing a black girl as the central focus and combining the diverse communities, and thus create one cohesive world.
