Arcana: A Tarot Story

The Game

As the lead programmer for Arcana: A Tarot Story, I collaborated with a team of seven to create an immersive and choice-based narrative game that takes the player on a journey through the tarot world.

In Arcana: A Tarot Story, you are given a tarot reading by a mysterious figure and you are then tasked with discovering the meaning of the card. Once you pick your card, you are immersed into that particular world. You make choices in the world and at the end, the game gives you a description of yourself in the context of the card.

Our focus was on immersing the player in this world by encouraging them to explore and invest in the story. To achieve this, we created a branching dialogue system and incorporated choice into the narrative, which allowed players to make tough decisions and interact with other characters in the game. We also achieved a hand-drawn look with bright colors and bold line art to draw the player in. Our target audience is focused on fantasy, story, and discovery.

My Work

As the lead programmer of Arcana: A Tarot Story, some of my most important contributions were the character controller, the dialogue system, the game architecture, and the technical design.

For the character controller, I was responsible for creating a system that allowed the player to move freely within the game world, with a focus on smooth and immersive movement. This involved designing an interaction system that could easily be utilized by the designers.

The dialogue system was another key area of responsibility for me. I worked to create a system that allowed for branching dialogue paths, where the player’s choices would impact the direction of the story. I implemented a behavior tree system to achieve this, which allowed for a dynamic and flexible dialogue experience.

In addition to these areas, I was also responsible for the game architecture. This involved creating systems and structures that allowed for easy integration of new assets and features which was especially important as our team was heavily design and art based. It was also important to ensure that the overall structure of the game was scalable and modular in general.