Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom

Senior Narrative Designer

Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, by Maze Theory, is a virtual reality adaptation of the acclaimed TV show. It was nominated for VR Game of the Year at the VR Awards, and VR/AR/XR/MR Game of the year at the TIGA Awards. Metro praised the “exemplary storyline, utterly in keeping with the TV programme”.

As Senior Narrative Designer I wrote and edited the script, and wove story details through an interactive environment. I also cast actors and directed VO recording sessions.

In this dev diary, I talk about the narrative design for the game.

Zombies, Run!

Writer and Story Editor

Zombies, Run! is an ultra-immersive running game that casts the player as the protagonist of an epic post-apocalyptic drama. It’s a collaboration between Six to Start and award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman.

I was on the writing team from 2018-2022, crafting thrilling missions which make people feel great about running, whatever their fitness level. As Story Editor I edited full seasons, wrote casting notes, and built a story bible.

During the pandemic, I collaborated on The Home Front, a series of home workouts set in the Zombies, Run! universe that helped players stay physically and mentally healthy under lockdown.

Fallen London

Writer and Narrative Designer

Fallen London, by Failbetter Games, is a literary RPG set in a darkly funny Victorian-Gothic underworld. I’ve written ten “Exceptional Stories”: elaborate, prestige pieces of interactive fiction for the game’s most ardent fans.

My stories have been praised for their emotional resonance, nuanced characters and cascading choices. Particularly popular are “A Crown of Thorns”, a mystery about the veterans of the War against Hell, and “Leviathan“, a fossil-hunting adventure that goes horribly wrong.

You can watch fan play-throughs of “Homecoming”, “Leviathan”, “The Tempest”, “A Crown of Thorns”, “Mistress of the Skies” and “Inheritance”.

Sunless Skies

Writer

Sunless Skies, also by Failbetter Games, is a gothic horror RPG in which the player captains a locomotive across a Victorian vision of space. It was critically acclaimed, scoring 9/10 from EDGE, 90/100 from PC Gamer, and “Essential” from Eurogamer.

Failbetter approached me to write “The Forged Companion”, one of the major companion quests in the game, in which the player builds an officer for their locomotive at the Forge of Souls.

You can watch a gameplay clip of this quest here.

Pendragon

Campfire tale writer

Pendragon is a character-driven narrative roguelike by inkle, the makers of 80 Days and Heaven’s Vault. Eurogamer described it as “a new classic of narrative and strategy“.

My story “Wilfred and the Serpent” was chosen as one of “The Pendragon Tales”, a selection of lightly interactive campfire stories that the characters tell each other in-game. It’s written in ink.

You can play Wilfred and the Serpent for free on Itch.io.

Funicular Simulator 2021

Co-creator, with Tom Leather

Funicular Simulator 2021 is a dreamy, romantic mystery created for the Interactive Fiction Competition 2021. It came in 14th place.

You can play Funicular Simulator 2021 for free, and read our post-mortem.

Runaway Fairground

Writer

I wrote Escape from Runaway Fairground, the Zombies, Run! Halloween 2019 Virtual Race in which the player must outrun the horrors of a cursed funfair.

You can view clips of the recording of the first and second training missions, as well as the race itself, on the official Zombies, Run! blog.

A Study in Ichor

Co-Writer, with Naomi Alderman

A Study in Ichor is a five-part audio running adventure set in Victorian London and featuring the cast of Zombies, Run!.

While an industrialist seeks to change the world, the player must team up with an unfortunate heir and race to stop the menace stalking London’s streets.