Winter is Coming

December in Berlin and it’s getting chilly. The cute hipsters, full of avocado and rye bread, settle into their warrens for hibernation, single-origin coffee waiting on the reclaimed-wood bedside table for spring.

I too find myself spending more time indoors, working hard on Sentenced. My weeks consist mostly of working and exercising, with the occasional cafe trip or social event thrown in for good measure. After almost half a year of travelling, moving flats and general impermanence, it actually feels good to slip into a routine for once.

I’m currently working towards having a playable demo ready for Talk & Play in January, a bi-monthly gaming event organised by BerlinGameScene.com. I want to have a single execution demo scenario playable, with all the art, animation, audio and coding together and working.

I have chosen the execution of Anna Arnoldin as the first to develop. Her crime is the murder of her abusive husband, which I chose because I wanted to pick a crime that was representative of the overall tone of the game. Pairing murder, a crime which most of us agree is wrong, with an understandable and sympathetic motive will hopefully demonstrate how I aim to make players feel conflicted about the righteousness of their actions.

This scenario would come about mid-way through the game, as the game begins to ramp up from punishing criminals who deserve it into less black and white territory.

In other news, I was recently interviewed by a podcast, The Gaming Outsider! It was the first time I’ve ever done an interview of this kind, and it felt like bit of a milestone, being the first time I’ve spoken about the game in a public forum. With the exception of a few university talks, it was also the first time I’ve ever been able to talk about my personal inspirations and passions, as I’m working on my own darling, rather than big product for a company. And because I’m a filthy little egotist, I love it. The link is here, in case you missed it.

Keep it weird!
Samuel Gordon