Evolyte
Evolyte was my dissertation project while studying my MA Indie Games and Playable Experience Design at Goldsmiths, University of London. The game was conceived as a critique of the ecological and political impact of cryptocurrencies, and was informed by my readings on the subject. It takes place long after the environmental collapse of Earth, the result of continuously accelerating cryptocurrency mining. Counterintuitively, mining is still the only viable source of income and the player is forced to build a sprawling server farm in the middle of the desert in order to survive.
The setting and subject is outlandish and dire, but nonetheless an attempt to highlight an issue that often gets swept aside when discussing blockchain technology. The Bitcoin network alone is estimated to consume more energy than Ireland (most of which is powered by coal), while also serving to normalize far-right economic ideals.
Throughout the project I worked on research, design, development, balancing, modelling and texturing. Concept sketches for the character designs were kindly provided by Deborah Ho.
The game was only a prototype and isn't publicly available, but here's some further reading if the subject is of interest: