Description:

This project centres the development of an original game titled The Forgotten Valley. As climate change and global warming dominate global discourse, many game developers are recognising the unique potential games have to engage audiences with these urgent topics. With an estimated 3.32 billion active gamers projected in 2024, the post-COVID era has only strengthened the gaming industry’s influence on user behaviour, knowledge, and attitudes towards environmental, political, cultural, and social issues; this led me to the development of the final design output, The Making of The Forgotten Valley Artbook.

The game follows Dani as she and her three flatmates flee their home when a deadly virus ravages their city. While attempting to cross the island to safety, their journey is interrupted by a powerful storm that forces them to seek shelter in a long-abandoned mining town deep in the forest. As the promise of safety at the quarantine zone fails to live up to expectations, the group is faced with a difficult choice: remain in uncertainty, or return to the forgotten town and start anew. They return. The game involves the players learning to survive, build community, live off the land, and discover their own purpose.

This project is deeply personal. It draws on my own experience as a young queer adult moving away from home and into an unfamiliar city—alone, uncertain, and learning how to survive and being comfortable in my own skin. It also reflects my childhood, which was shaped by an intimate relationship with nature, where I gained core life skills through play and exploration. Both experiences heavily influenced the project. Dani and her flatmates are based on myself and my own flatmates, with their personalities, skills, and sexualities inspired by their real-life counterparts.

When designing the game's environment and home base (the cabin), I physically modelled the space using found and natural materials before translating it into a digital 3D model. This hands-on approach allowed me to prototype gameplay mechanics such as building, crafting, and environmental interaction. More importantly, it encouraged me to step outside and engage directly with the natural world, mirroring the in-game experience I aimed to create and grounding the design in lived experience and authentic connection.

Given the project’s goal of exploring how game design can re-engage players with nature, I chose to focus my final output on The Making of The Forgotten Valley art book, rather than a polished, playable game. The art book documents the creative process and development journey, and serves as inspiration for others looking to explore similar themes in their own game design work.

The Forgotten Valley is an exploration of how a well-designed game can encourage sustainability and a reconnection with nature by crafting an eco-narrative that immerses players in a natural world.