Description:

‘Journey to Prometheus’ is a digital interactive experience that explores the Greek myth of Prometheus through various gamification mechanics in an Ancient Greek art style. The target demographic was users aged 18-35 with an interest in mythology, gamification, and story-driven games. This project was heavily inspired by my own interest in modern Greek retellings, gaming, and experimenting with unconventional narrative structures.

The main way the story of Prometheus is told in this experience is through the interactions the user has with the vases, making the UI feel diegetic. Diegetic UI is the concept of having interface elements that feel like they are part of the game world itself. In this user experience, the users are able to uncover the full story by collecting various vases scattered across the mountain and dragging them to rotate in order to read. This aspect of the design relates to how Ancient Greek vases were originally occasionally used as storytelling devices to showcase the different adventures and anecdotes of various Gods and other Greek figures across history. The moving borders that are always present on the sides of the experience further exaggerate the vase-like art style, making the user feel more immersed.

Instead of having the user experience this story from the perspective of Prometheus himself, I revolved the structure around the point of view of Prometheus’s punisher - the vulture. The user plays as the vulture, assigned to find Prometheus and collect all 3 vases to fully understand his story. Based on the user’s interpretations of Prometheus’s story and his actions, they are forced to make their judgments, creating different outcomes based on their decisions during the second half of the experience.

Implementing several gamification mechanics drastically increased the amount of user engagement and interest, based on my findings during the user testing of this project. These mechanics include vase-collecting, interactive animated characters and objects, finding hidden objects, and branching narratives. There are many instances where user delight was added to give the user a sense of accomplishment, mainly where they were either discovering a new vase or even a new ending.

Ultimately, I wanted to give users agency over their actions, weaving their own interpretation of Prometheus’s story with the resulting outcomes they receive.