I think everyone has wanted to create their own games - Most people probably won’t find their perfect game, and hence would get the itch to try making it. It is the same for me. I enjoy lots of games and want to try making my own versions and adaptations.

Game jams are the other equations, giving me a scope and deadline to get things finished not perfect.

Orihime was contrived during a late-night exploration, where I was focusing on another overlapping jam but had hit a block - All my ideas weren’t sticking. I was rolling my set of RPG dice, trying to get some inspirations. The imagery of the colourful dice across my black playmat reminded me of the dazzling night sky during camping trips.

The concept of the game took shape quickly. I knew I wanted to invoke the same sense of reminiscence and decided that the story happened in the past; A memory being drummed up.

I wanted the flow to come like an actual memory: the big picture first, then the details, then finally a “in hindsight” retrospective reflection. The hardest part was the fitting the questions to the flow of details, it made most sense to check the dice in increasing order, which created some difficulty in the actual prompts. 

In the end, I made the conscious choice to make some of the prompts much harder and, at first glance, unintuitive. For example, D12 encompassed the full spectrum of the Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. The nebulous prompts are meant to challenge the players, urging them to interpret the prompts with much more freedom.

I am very excited with how it turned out, the questions encompassing the whole arc of a memory, and capturing a sense of melancholy. Let me know how your story went, and how it made you feel!