Banned Together
Banned Together is a first-person narrative puzzle game that asks the question, “What do books mean to us?” You will play as Ruby, a trans college student on a surreal, after-hours adventure in a campus library, where you’ll investigate the impact of book banning and erasure at a liberal arts college — and spark a new queer relationship that sustains Ruby’s ongoing fight for justice.
Banned Together is:
A poignant, emotionally impactful tale interested in the impact of book banning, and the power of queer intimacy (design inspiration: Gone Home)
A mystery game that unfolds in a moody, labyrinthine college library with new corridors and secrets to discover at every turn (design inspiration: Myst)
A “MetroidBrainia” that focuses on systemic, knowledge-based puzzling—the entire library is accessible from the beginning, but access and progress all depend on what you’ve learned (design inspiration: Outer Wilds)
An empathy game with psychological mechanics that evoke Ruby’s mood and create emergent storytelling connected with queer and neurodivergent experiences (design inspirations: Life Is Strange: True Colors, Psychonauts)
As Lead Narrative Designer for this project, I am focused on supporting the development of a nuanced game story that is reflected across dialogue, in-game written artifacts, and the library environment, as well as in how puzzles are designed. Together with my teammate, Lead Technical Designer Elana Bell Bogdan, I aim to release a demo of Banned Together in early 2025, and pitch publishers later that year.
Banned Together is supported by the NYU Game Center Incubator in 2024-25.