PHANTOM CAFE

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

You were there that night - the night that she came. The details are still fresh at the front of your mind, imprinted on your brain like a rubber stamp with permanent ink. You couldn't forget the details even if you wanted to. So now it's time to recount them.

SKETCH is a narrative game about describing a moment in time and a brief encounter with a woman. This game is about recounting the details of someone who left an impression on you so strong you can never forget. Done in a week (May 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "PORTRAIT."

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

The Olympics: a time when the world comes together to compete. Only the best of the best come, and only the best of the best leave with medals. But your day has finally come! After years of training and muscle building, you find yourself among those best competiting in the Women's Weightlifting 75kg event. Can you lift the burden of that weight and beat the world record?

WOMEN'S WEIGHTLIFTING 75kg is an Olympic's licensed game about women's weightlifting. This game combines my love of sports and competition with my admiration for women weightlifters all over the world. Done in a week (May 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "LICENSED GAME: The Olympics."

Design by Elyse Lemoine, Steven Universe © Rebecca Sugar, CN

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

There's monsters on the loose in Beach City and it's up to Garnet of the Crystal Gems to smash them into pieces! Run along the beach and collect the missing gem shards while punching through the gem monsters. But try not to get caught, because they'll knock you out and it's game over.

GARNET'S GEM JAM is an endless runner and puncher that takes place in the world of Cartoon Network's Steven Universe. This game was an experiment in prototyping animations and in working in an IP that isn't my own. Done in a week (April 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "250 lines of code." Press 'space' to punch.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

Every little girl knows the joy of tea parties. Sitting your stuffed animals around a table and serving them tea, asking about the finer details of their illustrious lives; emulating the experiences you see on television. In our minds, those animals talk back, regaling us with the details, asking questions of their own. But what if all those animals could do was stare? What if your imagination wasn't enough to fill in the blanks? What if they had a mind of their own...?

BEARY'S TEA PARTY is a game about the playful act of talking to ones' stuffed bear at a tea party - and how it never talks back. Done in a week (April 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was to make a game solely based off of an screenshot. My screenshot is here.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

Saying hurtful things is like throwing stones into a pond: while the ripple dissipates quickly, the stone will always remain underneath the surface. The things that we say to others stay, often in the worst ways. In NOT RUBBER NOR GLUE the player joins a conversation with their friend. Each time a new conversation is started, your friend will remember the way that you make them feel, leaving them more reluctant to continue talking.

NOT RUBBER NOT GLUE is a game dealing with the effects of emotionally abusive friendships. Done in a week (April 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "Ephemeral or Permanent."

Design by Elyse Lemoine, Hokra by Ramiro Corbetta

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

Sumo. A simple, full-contact sport about overwhelming and wearing down your opponent. The rules are simple: either knock your opponent off their feet or force them out of the ring. HOMURA is something like that, only even simpler.

HOMURA is a Hokra-inspired minimalist sports game about the elegance of sumo. Done in a week (March 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "You just made (GAME). What now?" The game I received was Hokra. Requires two players to play.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the Prototype Here: MAC

The joys of cooking. The sound of your steaks as they sizzle on the skillet, the smell of shallots and red wine as they flavor your food. Nothing beats a fresh home-cooked meal, especially when that meal includes the gardener you just fired or your last tax auditor. Delicious...

Slice of Life is a Hannibal Lector-inspired game about cooking your friends. Done in a week (March 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "food."

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the prototype here: MAC

"If I falter, I am dead."

Husband of Mine is a narrative choice game about navigating the perils of a captive relationship. Inspired by George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, players must assume the role of THE WOLF, a young girl trapped away from home and in a loveless marriage. By choosing her responses in a conversation with her husband, THE LION, the player must attempt to survive at all costs and by any means.

Done in a week (March 2015) in Unity for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt for this week was "Actual Release," where all of the prototypes would be posted online after the week was up. See the rest of the games here.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the prototype here: MAC

Inspired by tamagotchis and the freenium model, CA$H CAT$ is a prototype exploring what it would be like if every single thing in the game cost money. From petting your cat to cleaning up its poop, you’re going to be paying up the butt to take care of your cat. And just imagine what it’ll be like if you don’t. They might just have a mind of their own.

Done in a week (February 2015) in Unity 4.6 for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. CA$H CAT$ doesn’t actually cost any money and is a complete parody and should not be taken seriously. (The cats order their own pizza if they get too hungry, after all!) The prompt of the week was “Cashing In” (or making a game that will make a million dollars in a week).

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Download the prototype here: MAC

Prepping for a party is a stressful experience, one that Surprise Party Scramble hopes to emulate. Done as a Wario Ware-style set of mini-games, Surprise Party scramble is about wrapping presents, baking a cake, and surprising your friends.

Done in a week (February 2015) in Unity 4.6 for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt of the week was “Surprise!"

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the prototype here: HERE.

“They say weight is just a NUMBER. That it’s not what’s on the outside that counts, but what’s on the inside.

Well, I think that’s bullshit.”

BONES. is a game about struggle.  A game about fighting depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.  It’s a game about not giving up, about pushing forward, and about facing the shadows of the past, as painful as they may be.  BONES. is completely autobiographical, based on my own experiences fighting as a woman and a lesbian in a world that doesn’t care for both, and is about the struggle of facing the world when one can’t even face themselves.

Done in a week (February 2015) in Twine for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center.  This was the single hardest game I’ve ever had to make due to its rough content.  The prompt of the week was “integers.”  (Warning for some very dark themes including depression, body image, physical and emotional abuse, and sexual assault.)

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Play the prototype here: MAC | PC

As a game designer and as a player, Animal Crossing has always been a game that has inspired me and pushed me forward. It’s a game about the relaxing day-to-day; a game of delayed gratification, about making and keeping friend, about living, relaxing, and being. Memory Forest is a small vignette that attempts to encapsulate the feeling of Animal Crossing, where the player is a townsperson exploring the memories of the town left by the player.

Made in a week (January 2015) in Unity 4.6 for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center. The prompt of the week was “a fangame of a game designed by a woman.” Memory Forest is an Animal Crossing (どうぶつの森）inspired by the project leader/director, Kyogoku Aya.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Download the prototype here: MAC

The most fun part of the day is picking out your outfit, right?  So many options to choose from, so many different things to wear, so many cute combinations!  But it’s not always as easy as it’s made out to be, especially when the oppressive expectations of the outside world are a little bit much.  Princess Panic! is about dressing yourself up in whatever way you want and facing the scrutiny of the outside world – which will always disappoint.

Done in a week (January 2015) in Unity 4.6 for Prototype Studio at the NYU Game Center.  Princess Panic! is a cute dress-up game with a twist.  The theme for the week was “pressure."

by Vanessa Briceño, Char George, and Elyse Lemoine

“You’re walking through the woods.  There’s no one around and your phone is dead.  Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him: Shia LaBeouf.”  You’ve made it into a log cabin, Shia in pursuit with a thirst for blood on his tongue.  And with your hands gone, you have nothing left but your bloody stump hands to barricade to the doors to keep him from getting in.

Shia LaBeouf Ate My Hands is a two player cooperative game for the PC and Leap Motion.  One player uses the Leap Motion to control the bleeding stump arms, pushing furniture in front of the windows and doors as Shia moves around them.  The other player controls the legs, guiding the stump arms toward the furniture so they can push together.

Done in 2 days (January 2015) for the 2015 Global Game Jam (prompt: “What do we do now?”).  Shia LaBeouf requires a gamepad (XBox360 or PS4) and a Leap Motion to play.  Shia LaBeouf won BEST TRAINWRECK at the NYU Game Center Global Game Jam site and took third place for AUDIENCE FAVOURITE.  This game was inspired by the song Shia LaBeouf by Rob Cantor.

Download the prototype here: SOON TO COME.

Design by Elyse Lemoine

Download the prototype: Windows.

Don’t you hate it when you’re trying to have a drink and you just can’t get a little peace and quiet?  It’s Spring Break at the Moonlight Bar and the men just keep flying at you, and they aren’t stopping!  Swing your arms as fast as you can to smack them away (and eventually destroy them) – but watch out for your drink next to you.  The more they hit you, the more exhausted you’ll be – and the faster you’ll leave the bar.  Survive as long as you can before those annoying dudes drive you off.

Done in 2 weeks (September 2013) for Game Studio I at the NYU Game Center, using GameMaker Studio.  As part of the assignment, all art assets had to be made in GameMaker’s sprite editor.  This was the first digital game I ever worked on.  Recommended to be played with an XBOX 360 gamepad.