After my Firebringer independent study, I knew I wanted to continue to learn about game design and its connection to storytelling and rhetoric. I spoke to Dr. Joe Williams and the two of us created a plan for an independent study course focusing on game design principles. The main parts of the course included completing various tutorials in Unity, a game development platform, and developing a game proposal.

The first step of developing my game proposal was to come up with an idea for my game. I decided to circle back and revisit some of the same themes I encountered while working on Firebringer, looking up folktales and myths from different cultures. During my research I came across the character of Anansi, a trickster character of African folklore. The stories of Anansi originated in West Africa, with the Akan people, so I began researching Ghana and the Ashanti, a tribe and subgroup of the Akan.

During my research I came across a source that mentioned a fertility ceremony for young women in the Ashanti tribe. I became interested in the idea of creating a coming of age story that focused on a young girl between two worlds: the world of childhood and the world of adulthood. The (very difficult to find) book, Girls’ Nubility Rites in Ashanti, written by Peter Sarpong, became one of my main resources. In the book, Sarpong describes each part of the fertility ceremony, detailing the number of days and the objects used. He also mentions that the Ashanti believe in a kra, or soul, that guides a person throughout their life. He tells the story of a girl whose kra was against the fertility ceremony. Despite the girl’s insistence that her kra was rejecting the ceremony, her family pushed her to continue. Sarpong says that the girl fell asleep and would not wake up the next morning.

These details were the last few pieces I used to tie together the story of my game. The game follows a girl named Akua who is reluctant to go through with her own ceremony. She falls asleep and wakes up in the dream world, where she meets Anansi. Anansi tells her that she must find her way through the dream world in order to wake up.

After deciding on the story, I focused on the other parts of my game proposal. The proposal consists of the following sections:

• Mechanics

• Aesthetics

• Story

• Technology

Similar to what I’ve learned in my other courses, I had to focus on the wants and needs of my audience. I thought about the kinds of tasks the player would be performing in the game, and what game mechanics would make it easier for them to complete those tasks. I also took time to research all I could about the Ashanti, the tribe my game is based off of.

For example, during my research on choosing a name for my main character, I found out that the Ashanti have an elaborate ceremony when they select names for their children.

The name is usually a combination of the day the child was born, the father’s name, and the name of a close family member or friend. I found out that the name for girls born on Wednesdays is Akua, which also happens to be the day associated with Anansi, the spider. In a way, the name chose itself!

I am excited about this project and hope to continue it in the future. There is a severe lack of African and African-inspired stories in the game industry, and I would love to be able to create something that fills a small part of that gap.