Embed or link to your game:
Feeling Batty (link): https://emkewong.itch.io/feeling-batty
Passcode: CS377G
Branching Choice Map:
Overview:
In this game, you play as Bryce, a human who wakes up one day as a bat! The only memories Bryce retains are that he used to be human and that he’s terrified of bats. However, to discover clues to unlock his human memories and, hopefully, the key to transforming back into a human, Bryce must ask for help from the very creatures he’s frightened of, the bats in the cave with him. Through interactions with the bats, Bryce starts to reframe both his perceptions of bats and himself. As Bryce moves from a newcomer to a member of the bat community, while also learning about bats, he gains a new appreciation and understanding for these creatures. Bryce figures out by the end of the story that he is famous horror novelist Bryce Wyne (known for his extreme fear of bats), and that an old archnemesis tricked and turned him into a bat. Although Bryce eventually transforms back into a human, he continues to carry with him this experience, these relationships, and a newfound love of bats.
For the initial concept mapping, this game was heavily influenced by Henry Jenkin’s article, especially his Alice in Wonderland examples for creating an “evocative” narrative style. I was reflecting on what type of story I would pull from to create this style, which led me to the superhero genre. This genre choice paired nicely with recent conversations I had with friends about Batman. Plus, I wanted to see if I could pair emotion with learning by making this game slightly educational, and my personal interest in bats, combined with Batman, led to this topic.
As this game is about “empathy,” I was curious about whether an emotion-driven game could still lead to, or even enhance, learning, especially if a player was forced to play from the perspective of a bat. At first, this bat (who later became the character of “Fonk”) was originally one of two main characters, and his goal was to become a superhero! However, I was also entertaining the idea that the player could choose to instead start the story as a human. I thought the evocative narrative style could be brought out more through irony if my character and his whole story were a big nod to Bruce Wayne and his fear of bats. While ideating, I wondered, instead of trying to conquer his fear of bats by turning them into a symbol of fear for others (the bad guys he was fighting), what if Bruce Wayne was forced to overcome his fear by talking to them? The human character seemed to have a more interesting arc than the bat. When I playtested my game with Judy in class, back when the narrative plot was almost like a buddy cop story, she suggested combining the two potential main characters (the bat and Bryce Wyne) into a single character of a human who turned into a bat, leading to the game I have now.
History Versions of Game/Timestamps:
| Playtest and Playtesters Info | Feedback | Iterative Changes OR Decisions to Keep Designs |
| #1 – 10/14
Paprika, in-class Paper prototype |
Paprika liked the concept! She thought I should keep the first choice where the player decides if they play as the human or bat. | I decided to keep this choice of human or bat avatar. I began building stories for these two main story paths. |
| #2 – 10/19
Judy, in-class Paper prototype |
Judy actually recommended combining the human and the bat avatars into a single character to help with cohesivity. She suggested the change in plot that the human shouldn’t shrink because of a shrink ray gun (in keeping with the superhero genre), but they should instead have already transformed into a bat, perhaps even waking up as one.
Judy mentioned she didn’t get that the game was a Batman reference, because she wasn’t very personally interested in this superhero. |
I had asked Judy about whether to keep the choice between a human or a bat. I found it was getting harder and harder to keep track of how I would flesh out these two characters’ storylines. I decided to go with her suggestion.
I kept the Batman reference because I was curious if my friends would still get the reference. I did start reflecting on whether international students would understand what was going on with the story. |
| #3 – 10/20
Kirin Y., friend, on Zoom Digital prototype v. 1 Note: I have a recording from this playtest, yet since I did not receive permission to publicly post it, I’m refraining from including timestamps and a link to this playtest.. |
Kirin was one of the friends I designed for, and she seemed to really love the game’s reference and ironic love letter to Batman. There were several laughs at the places the references came up.
Kirin’s biggest suggestions were to 1.) reveal Bryce’s identity at the very end of the game, forcing the player AND main character to solve the mystery of who he is as they progress through the story, and 2.) actually give the player an opportunity to learn how he turned into a bat. For the first suggestion, Kirin said that while she couldn’t compare whether she would have preferred this version of the story over the one she played, she did feel like the games she plays grab the player’s attention more if players and characters don’t know who they’re playing as. For the second suggestion, Kirin said it seemed like this mystery around how Bryce turned into a bat didn’t have any closure, since the player never learn how this happens in the first place. Kirin brought up the manor house as a place to look for clues and where the player finally finds out why this transformation happened. The example we discussed was that this transformation was a supervillain’s evil machinations in Bryce’s human world, or as a prank from a rival writer out to get him. Kirin also suggested having a deeper reason for Bryce’s fear of bats. She suggested offering a more personal experience behind Bryce’s fear of bats might make the player’s emotional connection to him and his personal growth stronger (rather than just saying he’s afraid they’ll suck his blood). Kirin said she personally liked having multiple endings because it felt like the player’s choices mattered more. She thought it would be interesting to explore what would happen if Bryce did NOT overcome his fear of bats, or if he didn’t become human again. Kirin seemed to be making choices based on how she thought Bryce Wyne would act (from what she knew about his reclusive, anti-social personality). Sometimes, I had not yet fully fleshed out those choices. Finally, it seemed as if Kirin was disappointed that we didn’t get to meet any of these other bats. |
Based on Kirin’s response, I decided to keep the Batman-themed references.
I changed when the player finds out Bryce Wyne’s identity and full backstory from the beginning to the end, per Kirin’s suggestion. I paired this second suggestion with the changed reveal of Bryrce’s identity at the end, as I felt the mystery of discovering who he was would tie nicely in with not remembering how he was transformed into a bat, and be revealed at the same time as the memories about his human identity come back. I tried fleshing out this deeper fear with a traumatic childhood experience encountering bats (i.e., when Bryce falls down into a bat-filled underground cave). I also tied it to Kirin’s idea that a human rival was out to get Bryce (J. Laffs, or the Joker). In the end, as the branches grew, having multiple endings felt too overwhelming to manage, especially when I wanted to focus on neatly tying up loose threads with a good ending. To honor the player’s agency, and strengthen this enacted narrative strategy, instead of railroading them (immediately) back to my main plotline, I decided to build out the negative consequence branches a little more. Instead of having our main bat guide, Fonk, introduce us to these types of bats, it might be more powerful to have Bryce meet them. |
| Playtest #4, 10/21
Jeffrey Cai, in-class. Digital prototype, V. 2 Passcode: ihj.H5Q! |
Jeffrey seemed to have a lot of fun immersing himself as the different characters who popped up in the story, even doing different voices for them (4:19-4:35, 7:16–7:19, 7:46-7:53). He also seemed to pick up on the Batman reference (2:20-2:40).
For a stronger emotional connection, Jeffrey recommended increasing the story’s focus on Bryce. Echoing Kirin, he said Bryce’s backstory could be more specific about why he doesn’t like bats, offering more hooks for Bryce’s motivation to change back from a bat into a human. He also discussed increasing Bryce’s in-game agency, letting him go discover things instead of always being brought around by Fonk. Jeffrey said he didn’t know about fruit bats (9:13-9:17) |
I keep the Batman references for the evocative narrative strategy! It was interesting to also see enacted narrative strategy come out.
I add more to Bryce’s backstory through numerous flashbacks to when he was 6 years old and first became afraid of bats. In these flashback scenes, we see how that first encounter with bats socially ostracizes him. The flashbacks come during sleep or when he encounters something familiar. I also try to create new branches that loop back to main plot points and move the story forward, but allow for more independent searching by Bryce (e.g., learning to fly with Fonk or by himself, trying out echolocation). I also added more bats (Larry and the seniors) to give another bat Bryce can talk to, so it’s not always Fonk. I keep the bat facts in, for learning! |
| Playtest #5, 10/24
Dio and Sophia, friends Remote, via Zoom, no recording |
Sophia and Dio both thought it was funny knowing I had written this with Batman in mind (and, yes, they got the reference).
Sophia recommended adding embedded options to return to the previous screen in the text or as a menu of choice, instead of relying on the player to press the back arrow. She also pushed for building out more of the branches so there are multiple ways to the same ending. For Bryce’s backstory, Sophia thought it would be useful to add more description of the darkness in the cave for Bryce’s fear (to set the stage a little more), and more clearly describe if J fell in the hole with him. Finally, both Sophia and Dio thought this story’s target audience was middle schoolers and elementary schoolers. They thought Bryce’s fear of animals and the Batman references might be more relatable to a younger audience. |
I’ve kept the reference.
I added these embedded return options, per Sophia’s guidance on language like: “There’s nothing else to see here. Look around some more./Ask more questions.” This recommendation mirrored my approach to build out branches and pathways to get to the same ending. In the end, while I built out branches throughout the story, I believe there is still one way to get to the ending of my story… I added more descriptors of darkness and tried to space out the pacing of the text to build up suspense. And I added more clearly noted J pushed Bryce into the hole. |
| Playtest #5, 10/26
Sabrina, in-class. Digital V.3 Passcode: 5q7Wey?$ |
Sabrina was a terrific playtester, especially with her expressions and reactions! Several times, she reacted with an “ohhh” upon finding new information (1:15-1:22). She also seemed to feel emotional connection with the characters, and expressed with an “aww” or certain branch decisions to remain with these characters, such as when the baby bats appear (2:09, 2:17-2:18, 2:30-2:38), during the flashback when we see the other kids taunt Bryce as he falls in a cave of bats (4:02-4:11), the story about the white-nose syndrome is shared (4:45-5:01), and when reading the letter from Bryce’s friend, Cal (6:47-6:50). She also repeatedly called J an “a–hole” (3:38-3:44, 7:20-7:28, 8:18-8:20, 9:54-9:56) or “a meanie” (5:20-5:23). She got the Batman reference (11:55-12:03), the Noseferatu reference (8:55-8:58), and the Clark Kent reference, but I’m not sure if she picked up on the reference to Wonder Woman (“Deanne”) (9:58-10:09).
She did talk about how the anthropomorphized bats made it a little difficult to connect back to in real life, which she understood was this genre and narrative styles’. Sabrina wanted to know more about Fonk, though (11:10-11:49) Sabrina liked the flashbacks, but also recommended shifting the narrative style of the flashbacks so they felt more like a 6-year old’s experience (14:11-14:55). Finally, Sabrina helped me catch a missing embedded return branch. |
Sabrina’s reactions confirmed that certain emotions were coming out and being felt by the player as they experienced the narrative.
I decide to get rid of the Wonder Woman reference, and just keep Clark Kent. However, because Sabrina said she felt a little disconnected from Fonk and the other bats, I decided to actually lean into the anthropomorphization of the characters to better create an emotional connection. I came up with a whole backstory for the nursery dynamics, with Namp’s mother being over taken by white nose syndrome, Fonk being friends with that mom and now taking care of Fonk. Larry, as a senior bat, felt more fully characterized when I added dialogue revealing he strongly believes in the importance of having a community to look out for each other. I tried to use simpler words and shorter sentence structure for these scenes. |
| NOTES FROM KRYSTAL | Krystal said the flashback scenes are nice but it read more as a dream than a real life situation that happened.
Krystal also touched based on the type of fun at play (exploration, and then agency), saying we should not “overextend [ourselves] if you think it’s getting out of scope” There were some nitty gritty details, like repeated words, changing style of perspective (1st vs. 3rd), embedded choices. |
I’m hoping that these scenes will feel less dream-like after reviewing and implementing them per Sabrina’s suggestion to rewrite them as a six-year old. |
| PLAYTESTS #6, #7, AND #8 – 10/28
Olu, Game, and Paprika, respectively, Digital V. 4 Passcode: K29=3*8H Passcode: H$n31S^i Passcode: ip#?9H.2 |
Olu took 34 minutes to complete the game, Game took 27 minutes, and Paprika with 21 hours. All three closely read almost every bit of text, rather than skimming it (like my previous playtesters did)
My playtesters didn’t have recommendations for major changes in plot, structure, or flow. Any suggestions were related to language, typos, and breaking up large chunks of text. It was interesting to note that all three of these playtesters had no idea who Batman was! They are all international students. I really appreciated how fully Olu immersed himself in the story. During certain choices of what to do next, he kept saying he would do what he believed Bryce, the character, would do, based on the available knowledge he had (4:57-5:01, 7:00-7:15, 8:06-8:13, 38:13-38:34). Game liked how Bryce’s inner thoughts mirrored his own questions as the player (4:00-4:45, 22:09-22:23)! Game remembered the detail about Bryce tasting a lemon flavor when he first wakes up (as a bat), and connected this detail to the reveal that the cake is what turned Bryce into a bat (21:06-21:17). He said figuring out why this detail was included was a big motivator (28:39-29:38). Finally, Paprika in particular had such great emotional reactions, especially to the new scene I rewrote where Fonk shares a more personalized story about the impact of white nose syndrome on bats. She even said, “I thought this is what bats do to us, you know?” (14:47-15:02). |
I broke up the longer blocks of text even further, embedding the choices into verbs (Game’s suggestion). Paprika mentioned she really liked how the choices were embedded into the text, rather than listed as options (7:49-7:57).
While these playtesters’ lack of reactions to and/or knowledge of my Batman references reveal some of the limitations of this evocative narration, especially when referencing media international students may not be as familiar with, I think the pattern of recognition and delight I saw from other playtesters means I should keep it. The story also seemed strong enough on its own to be played with an emotional connection without this evocative narrative strategy, thanks to an enacted narrative strategy that emerged (see below) Olu gameplay demonstrated an enacted narrative strategy that emerged. Game’s gameplay demonstrated both an enacted narrative strategy at play and an embedded narrative strategy, which reaffirmed the previous playtesters’ recommendations of using the mystery of Bryce’s identity as the main driver of the plot and moving the reveal to the end. Paprika’s gameplay demonstrated the emotional connection players felt, and even tied it to learning through narrative! |
Reflection:
I think I successfully created a cozy, plot-driven game that pokes fun at Batman while also teaching players about bats! I learned that if I leaned more into upping the emotional stakes of the story by developing stronger characterization, some of the learning became more memorable because certain scenes were more personally meaningful to the player playing as Bryce. If I had more time, I think I might change:
- The ending: Perhaps it’s a little more rewarding if one of the bat options from the network has the solution to change Bryce back (although I wanted his acceptance of bats and, more broadly, of community, to be the trigger for transforming back)
- Embed the bat facts into the story or characters’ lives, rather than just stating facts to be memorized (although players definitely memorized these facts!)
- Find a clearer way to ensure the player understands that Bryce is not dreaming he’s turned into a bat, nor is he a bat dreaming he was a human turned into a bat
- Perhaps make the story a little less Bruce Wayne/Batman-specific and a little more relatable to all types of players (e.g., turning the manor house into a regular house by the woods), although it seemed the story still emotionally resonated for those who didn’t pick up these references
