GAME DESIGNS & EDUCATION
(2024 - present) @ Northeastern University
Games, Prototypes, and Data Work
SMILE-E-MART
Game Overview
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Smile-E-Mart is a cashier simulator game that was developed in four weeks. We had four members on the team (Akshar Vandara, Alex Ma, Sebastian Salas, and Serena Yang), each, to some extent, multi-tasking in game design, coding, 3D modeling, and original art.
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The game is set in a near-future cyberpunk setting where the player roleplays as a cashier robot who scans items for customers, checks IDs, and flags those who buy suspicious combinations of items. In the beginning, the player-controlled robot does not understand human language; it can only smile at customers, and its work process is tedious and repetitive. However, as the story progresses, an unexpected incident happens and suddenly the robot can not only understand sentences but also community with the customers with a variety of simple emojis.​
Actual Gamplay Screenshot
While communicating with the customers, the player roleplaying as the cashier robot who has never left the store in its life will start to understand the story world and the human society better. While conversing with the customers, each emoji displayed on the robot's face monitor will lead to different responses, causing the story to shift accordingly.
There are three possible endings in the story, each corresponding to which customers the player chose before the final scenes. One of the endings is more secretive and more difficult to achieve than the other two. It takes a little bit of character analysis and extra attention to reach hence is considered an easter egg ending.​
Design Highlights​
(No Major Spoilers)
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Smile-E-Mart is not just a cashier simulator. It questions the essence of the human experience and what distinguishes us from robots. The core of the story emphasizes one theme: Proper communication and shared understanding make us human.​
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At the beginning of the game, the robot/player does not understand a single line said by the people it encounters. From the player's perspective, the conversations they see and hear are a bunch of random and indecipherable code. Yet ironically the robot can easily read the system instructions telling it how to operate as a robot. This design is deliberate as it reverses the human/robot relationship for the player where they no longer understand human language but instead read machine code.
Unable to Understand Human Language
Robot Work Protocol Instructions
Additionally, at the beginning game stage, the robot can only display a smiley face on its monitor screen that is being shown to the customers. Hence the game title "Smile-E-Mart." The inability to self-express on top of the inability to understand a language makes it impossible for the robot to relate to "being a human."
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The turning point happens at the end of the first story day when the robot is given the power to read human language during a special incident. Suddenly, the customers showing up at the store become lively and interesting because they no longer speak gibberish to the robot. Gradually, the robot adopts new emotions and emojis as it learns from the people visiting the store. For example, when an angry customer complains, a new angry emoji appears on the screen and will be available for future conversations with others.
At this point, the robot gains knowledge about the people and their world outside of the store that it has been confined to since the moment of its creation.
We used inky for different dialogue options
We created prefabs for each character to assign attributes and other unique properties
Towards the end, the player faces a difficult choice. It turns out that their sudden ability to understand human language and to self-express emotions is a "time-limited deal." They have to choose between keeping the communication powers or watching them getting stripped away one by one had they refuse to "stick to the plan."
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This is a critical and emotional moment because by choosing to "self-sacrifice," the robot can actually save people's lives. But afterward, the robot returns back to its original state and can no longer understand people's talk while only being able to smile at them and nothing more.
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In our design, we hope to challenge our players with this moral dilemma. When facing situations where self-gain comes into conflict with the welfare of the general public, which would we choose?
Further, we also wish to show our audience the power and importance of communication and the ability to understand each other. Without them, we become more robots than humans.
The Game
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Play Smile-E-Mart online or watch a full playthrough with all endings on YouTube.
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Smile-E-Mart is being showcased at GDC 2025 for Northeastern University. Pictures and details will be updated soon.
Future Improvements
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We had very limited time to make this game despite putting in a lot of effort and going through a lot of trials and errors. The game is far from perfect and we hope to refine the designs and continue developing it in the upcoming future.
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For instance, the flagging system is not the most intuitive and the gameplay flow could be improved as well. The endings could also use more polish and we plan to add more 3D models that are more interesting. The online game will be updated to time once we made additional changes.
THE DOORS GAME
Game Overview
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The Doors Game is a maze puzzle and narrative game developed in about three weeks for a game design class. I was the main designer, voice actor, and second coder of the game.​​
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Our objective was to make a 5 minutes game that evoked a specific type of emotion using the MDA model (mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics). Our assigned emotion is "skepticism" so I designed this maze game to confuse and tease the player.
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As the player continues exploring, they constantly have the company of a narrator telling them what to do and what not to do. Depending on player choices, the narrator will react differently. There are also multiple endings to this game although every one of them features a touch of suspicion and uncertainty.
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All my designs emphasize the central aesthetics which is suspicion. Players may constantly find themselves wondering: "Am I playing the game right?" & "Is this the true ending?"
Actual Gameplay Screenshot
The Game
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Download and play The Doors Game or watch a full playthrough with all endings on YouTube.
(Note: not all the possible endings are included in this playthrough video. There are a total of four ways to end the game including an "accidental one.")
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The Doors Game Concept Document
Actaul Gameplay Screenshot
The Doors Game Concept Document
Concept Document
We wrote a detailed concept document for this game discussing our designs following the MDA model. Please see the file below.
HOLLOW BRIDGE
Hollow Birdge Cover, Handrawn Digital Art, Noveber 2024
Game Overview
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Hollow Bridge is a multi-branching narrative game I am personally developing outside of class. Currently, I am the solo designer, coder, artist, and music composer although I am looking forward to recruiting talented individuals to collaborate with me.
The game is designed with educational values in mind; it encourages players to develop their analytical thinking and interpersonal skills through carefully designed gaming cycles.
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Collect evidence through conversations and on-site investigations
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Analyze evidence and make logical inferences
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Make strategic and creative choices that shape the story based on players’ vision.​​
Hollow Birdge Interface Design 1, Handrawn Digital Art, Noveber 2024
Game Design
​​Hollow Bridge's plot delves into themes of power and the complexity of human nature. As the Crown Prince of a medieval kingdom where magic existed but died centuries ago, players embark on a journey to uncover the kingdom’s hidden history while resolving political conflicts. Players are prompted to think introspectively about self-identity and their relationships with society as they study character motivations and explore various moral dilemmas.​​
Hollow Birdge Interface Design 2, Handrawn Digital Art, December 2024
To deliver these educational experiences, the game implements specific mechanics and designs aimed at creating convincing characters with complex motivations, elevating the themes of power and humanity. Additionally, it fosters meaningful interactions that challenge players to engage in critical thinking and problem-solving within the context of interpersonal relationships.
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A dynamic, multi-dimensional attitude system tracks players’ choices across various scenarios. This allows in-game characters to “assess” the player character from their “personal perspectives,” resulting in character responses that remain authentic to their personality and motivations.
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Numerous story events, major or minor, are recorded and referenced by game characters throughout the narrative. These characters with continuous and integrated “memories” of player actions best acknowledge and reflect player influences on both game characters and the world they inhabit.
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Players start the game unaware of the hidden rules governing character behaviors and interactions. Once players understand how their actions influence in-game characters, they can strategically manipulate them via methods like forming alliances or deception when advantageous.
Hollow Birdge Concept Art, Handrawn Digital Art, December 2024
Awarded Grant
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I applied for and received $850 budget support as one of the winners of the Art + Design Project Grant program through Northeastern University's College of Arts and Design.​ This budget will be used to create the game and run game playtesting and research.​
Hollow Bridge Twine Prototype
Work in Progress
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Hollow Bridge is still a game in development. So far I have tested a tabletop scripted version of the game in addition to making Twine prototypes. Further updates will be posted soon.​
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For the teaser trailer, please check out this YouTube video.
THE MIRROR BETWEEN US
Game Overview
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The Mirror Between Us is a replayable, two-player, one-shot tabletop roleplaying game that explores power dynamics, negotiation, and emotional intelligence within the framework of an arranged marriage. Set in a relatively modern world, each player independently creates a character and roleplays together as a newlywed couple whose families seek to gain from the union.
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I am the solo designer and developer of this game. Currently, I am working on the second major iteration, refining systems while preserving the core mechanics
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The Mirror Between Us is available in both physical and digital form. You may find the digital game in the Tabletop Simulator workshop.​
Game Design
The game blends semi-scripted roleplay with strategic decision-making, using dice rolls and card draws to simulate a year of shared life. Players pursue both individual and collaborative objectives to define what “success” means for their marriage, whether emotional connection or personal ambition, or a combination of both. Gameplay is shaped by personal choices in addition to random events tied to family and business affairs, creating a dynamic, evolving narrative.​​
A central mechanic is information asymmetry: player stats are hidden from each other, and deception is allowed, as long as it doesn’t deviate from mechanical rules. This design fosters a delicate tension between trust and manipulation.
Ultimately, The Mirror Between Us is a sandbox for exploring relationships with complex motives, offering a flexible yet emotionally rich experience for players to reflect on identity, values, and vulnerability in a space that encourages deep introspection and dramatic play.
Publication
A research paper is written and submitted to CHI Play based on this board game. Please refer to this Writings section for details.​​
TEAM FORTRESS 2 BOARD GAME
Our TF2 Board Game Made in Tabletop Simulator
Game Overview
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In this class project, we made a prototype for the video game Team Fortress 2. In a team of four, we spent one week designing the game and two weeks balancing the characters and their abilities. The goal is to capture the essence of the video game in a tabletop version while practicing class balancing.
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The game is made in Steam's Tabletop Simulator software and you can find our game in its workshop.​
Our Game in Tabletop Simulator Steam Workshop
Game Design and Details
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We wrote an extensive balancing and design document for this project. Please refer to the following document.​
TF2 Board Game Design Document
For more videos about the game, please see these YouTube videos.
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TELEMETRY & DATA ANALYTICS
My team and I are designing a telemetry project to collect numerous gameplay of the board game Coup to fully study the game mechanics, card balancing, and player behaviors. Some of the topics include:
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Player's lying pattern and success rate
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Different types of player strategy
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Are there dominant strategies in this game
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How each character card interact with others
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The effects of different combinations of cards
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This is still a work in progress. For an initial design report, please refer to this pdf document.
Coup Telemtry Design and Initial Analysis
Some Data Overview in our Telemetry Test Run
Publication
A research paper is written and submitted to Analog Game Studies based on this board game. Please refer to this Writings section for details.​​