This project is a 25+ page research paper that analyzes the connections between confessional poetry and sandbox survival video games by imagining a fictional game, Swell, designed based off of three poetry collections.

solo project

materials / software used:

• Adobe InDesign

• Adobe Photoshop

• various copyright-free images

topics:

• Self-determined goals in a world designed against the poet/player.

• Simulating the trauma recovery process

• First-person personal

• The refusal to "end" / respawning

• Overlapping histories of video game development and poetry: from epic tales of heroes to facing the horrors of the modern world.

• Play styles vs. writing styles.