Game Design | Art Direction | UI/UX | 2D Art | UI Art

Our Vanishing Summer is a game in the mechanical convention of cozy games like Animal Crossing and Boku no Natsuyasumi, set to the backdrop of a tragic mystery. It explores sensationalization using this disempowerment of the player in a mystery narrative. With intentionally aimless and unmeasured “cozy” systems, and fixed periods of time devoid of narrative progression, the game hopes to make players reflect on their drive towards the morbid, and to challenge them to find value in simply living, even in the face of something tragic and compelling.

My Roles

Game Design

• As a team of 2 designers, we worked together to design the core mechanics like the day cycle, rock collection and sticker messenger, with myself going more in depth in the UI/UX design and my partner in narrative system design.

• The main challenge was balancing the mystery narrative with the more “cozy” mechanics, to drive the players towards child-like summer exploration instead of roleplaying a detective. We solved this with a time-passage system that forces the player to pass the time between narrative beats.

• For a deep dive into our design and development process, see our devlogs here: https://rashomon.cargo.site. My personal devlogs are marked with my name.

UI/UX & UI Art

• Opposite of the art style being in-line with the cozy games aesthetic, we wanted to go unconventional to the hoarding of resources possible in many cozy games – therefore the 2 hands inventory UI.

• The device interface UI is to signal the era that the game is set in, and what would be popular for kids to use back then.

• See more details of my UI design for Our Vanishing Summer here.

I also did the art direction for Our Vanishing Summer - See more here.

I also did all of the 2D art for Our Vanishing Summer - See more here.