Jack Rambles

For my first experimental portfolio piece, I made a Muppets-inspired horror thing. I challenged myself to make it in a limited time, which forced me to commit to decisions quickly. That was super refreshing but also kind of stressful. It was nice to work with physical materials for a change instead of digital, and I liked the way imperfections just became part of the process instead of something to tweak endlessly. It reminded me how much I enjoy working with tangible objects and ideas.

One thing I realized, though, is that I need to get better at segmenting my work. I liked the big burst of making it all at once, but coming back to it later didn’t work as well as I hoped. I still needed to take some more steps, but those later tweaks felt a little disjointed. In the future, I want to structure my process more intentionally—maybe setting clear milestones so that when I return to a piece, I have a stronger sense of direction.

For my next project, I want to make something that can run longer, something that evokes The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, and I want to use a two-stat system. I liked the longevity possible in Steady, but I want to find a way to bring a more whimsical tone to it. The challenge will be maintaining that lightheartedness while still embedding depth into the mechanics, so that players can experience both freedom and structure in meaningful ways. I’m particularly interested in how mechanics can reinforce storytelling themes, and I’d like to experiment with that more.

Reading through Max and Melody’s one-pagers was also really cool. Melody’s system seemed like so much fun, and I could see myself using it to make dumb raps with friends. It was designed in a way that encouraged creativity without feeling overly restrictive, which I think is a powerful element in game design though possibly an innate feature in one pagers. Max’s, on the other hand, just crushed me. I’ve been told for years how moving games can be, and I’ve always understood that conceptually, but I never felt it the way I did when I read Max’s work. It finally clicked into place, like, “Oh. This is what people mean when they say games can make you feel something. This game feels suffocating in the best way.” That realization opened up a whole new perspective for me, making me reconsider my approach to designing experiences that can evoke real emotion.

Going forward, I want to take what I learned from this experiment and apply it more intentionally. I want to keep that balance of structure and playfulness, but I also want to explore how mechanics can reinforce emotional tone. Making the Muppets thing was fun, but it also made me realize how important it is to be deliberate with both the process and the theme. I think there’s a tendency in my work to stay on the lighthearted, goofy side, and while that’s a space I love, I also want to challenge myself to create something more serious and deeply engaging.

My fear of being judged is at odds with the nature of the work I want to create. Vulnerability is essential to meaningful design, but it’s also deeply uncomfortable. I need to explore that discomfort rather than shy away from it. By leaning into it, I hope to add depth to my art, making experiences that feel both personal and resonant for players. This is something I’ve been avoiding, but I realize now that it’s a necessary step in my growth as a designer. That’s what I want to push toward next—finding the balance between personal expression and mechanical innovation, and allowing myself to be open in ways I haven’t before. But I’ll probably stay silly until I feel less stressed…