Thais Weiller's PhD - Mechanics and Rewards

One of our commissioned experiences within the Extended Reality Center was a short choice-based game inspired by Reigns, intended to be used as a research method for the PhD of University Professor and Game Designer Thais Weiller.
During the development process, I was responsible for the game’s entire art direction, from the initial planning of the visual style, color palettes, and software selection. I was also responsible for the initial narrative planning of the game, defining what it would be about and how we could approach the professor’s research themes.

The professor’s research idea was to evaluate how users would behave and feel when placed in choice-driven situations in which they would experience a kind of “Butterfly Effect”, that is, when a single decision directly impacts the course of the narrative and its consequences.
After initial meetings with the experience development team, we decided to create a story about a road trip with friends on their way to a wedding. Throughout the journey, several unexpected events would take place inside the car, and the user, acting as the driver, would need to balance three main status bars: the car’s condition, the group’s overall stress level, and the remaining time until they arrived at the wedding.

With the visual pre-production fully defined, development began. The visual assets were created in vector art using Adobe Illustrator.
The visual design for all the cards was developed according to thematic categories, allowing them to be reused based on their respective themes. Background assets were also created, including variations for daytime, afternoon, and nighttime settings.