The Project
After Action was a narrative-driven exploration game created as a final project for my English class, inspired by The Things They Carried. The player takes the role of a squad leader injured in battle who must piece together what happened by exploring the base, reading documents, and collecting words to fill in a fragmented After Action report. There are multiple correct solutions, each revealing a slightly different interpretation of the events, mirroring the book’s themes of memory, trauma, and uncertainty.
What I Did & Creative Approach
In a month, I handled all writing, art, programming, and design. My creative goal was to align the game feel with the protagonist’s mental state. The fill-in-the-blank mechanic was inspired by The Case of the Golden Idol and was designed to make the act of remembering feel like a manual, difficult cho for the player. The art was influenced by necessity, readability, and immersion. I chose the high density pixel art with the dithering as it’s what I know best and it captured the grim, gritty feel of Vietnam during the war.
What I Learned
This project taught me how to design around story and emotion first, not just mechanics. I learned pixel art, narrative pacing, and how to let player interpretation drive engagement. It also helped me develop my skills in making games that can meaningfully explore literary and philosophical ideas. Honestly, I went far beyond what was expected for a school project, and that extra effort cemented my style: games that make players think long after they’re done playing.
Why I did this project
After reading The Things They Carried, I wanted to capture its emotional weight in an interactive form. I wanted to explore memory, trauma, and truth through gameplay, not just words. The Case of the Golden Idol also influenced me; I loved how it told the story through environment and inference. I wanted to explore how gameplay can communicate ambiguity, pushing the player to sit and reflect rather than chasing the “win”.