I’m James Martini, a game designer and writer. This website features all of my work.
Check out the links below to see some selected works and learn about me. Below the list are all of the posts on the site. Feel free to use the categories in the top bar to sort by the kind of work you want to see.
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Apricot and Fern
Itch.io link In Apricot and Fern, have a relaxing evening exploring this cute cafe nestled deep in the woods. Talk to the patrons, who love to spend their time lounging, playing games, and chit-chatting the night away. Technology Timeframe 5 months Role Sole developer
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The Extension of “Camp” and the Play-Element in “The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt”
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The Mariner, Lost then Found
(or, “The Lost Mariner, Found”) The Lady I met while lost at sea Held my hand as She tore my vessel in two. As a child I always floated in water, But suddenly, for the first time in my life, I sank. I felt myself dissolve as I lost myself in Her. No longer weighed…
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Humanity in Death: Twenty One Pilots and Yeats
September 26, 2021, Denver, Colorado (look at me finally publishing articles over a year after I write them): You know the drill: Twenty One Pilots is touring again, which means that my borderline unhealthy obsession with Tyler Joseph as an artist has come back with force and vigor. For whatever reason, nothing gets me going…
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Capturing Randy: Finding American myth by drawing Randy Johnson
Meeting Randy: Like many of the world’s young people, long, uninteresting Zoom classes populate my days and I need something to occupy my time. Luckily for me, I typically have a notebook in front of me so I do what any sensible young person would do: sketch pictures of MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Randy…
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Why are there so many Twin Peaks clones in video games?
Everyone loves David Lynch and his strange brain, but apparently, no one loves him more than video game writers do. We can’t get through a year nowadays without at least one clear David Lynch homage sliding its way onto the release calendar. Some companies, like French developer Dontnod, have even created entire brands around it,…
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The Pythagoras Parable
Introduction: The following short story is loosely based on a legend surrounding Hippasus, a Pythagorean philosopher (though he most likely lived about a century after Pythagoras, despite how I wrote the story), who supposedly discovered the existence of irrational numbers, which challenged the Pythagorean belief in a rational world (all numbers can be represented as…
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Frog’s Birthday Adventure
Itch.io link A little Twine game about Frog’s adventure on her birthday to find all her friends and have the best birthday possible. This game features an interactive picturebook look, with illustrations for every “page”, and a structure that lets the player see the entire world and meet all the characters. Technologies Timeframe 1 month…
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The Sun and The Moon
Itch.io link In this work of interactive fiction, you explore a dreary wood on the brink of destruction. Technologies Timeframe 2 weeks Role Sole developer
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Stirring of the Soul Beneath
Itch.io link Play as the sailor Strauss as he charts the waters on a stormy night to deliver oil to lighthouses in desperate need of extra supplies. Keep your ship afloat and your stomach full as you explore the world, traveling from lighthouse to lighthouse, learning about the world, the sea, and the people who…
James Martini 