This game is not an excellent example of my graphics work but I remember it fondly for the lessons it taught me about inclusion, teamwork, and creating novel experiences.
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My freshman year, my roommates and I were swept up in the excitement of hackathons. Hackthons are events where small groups of students rapidly develop an idea to a functional demonstration within 24 or 48 hours of work.
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We created a maze game where you couldn’t see the maze. Rather than navigate the labyrinth visually, the player receives information about their surroundings via sound. Each cardinal direction produced a different tone which would be shifted in pitch according to your distance from each wall. We worried that this would be far too much for a player to interpret while trying to remember their path and the locations of dead-ends. To our surprise, players acclimated quickly and navigation became second nature. Players had a hard time putting it into words. After understanding what pitches corresponded to junctures or endings, players developed understandings of the chords rather than parse the notes separately.
The game was not only different because of the unique gameplay experience. The game is uniquely accessible to people who are visually impaired. The thought of broadening the audience of people who could enjoy the games I made was heartening. The event also bonded our group and we’ve collaborated on other projects.
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Lost in Sound received Third Place at Berkeley/Stanford's annual "Big Hack" Hackathon in April, 2013. Participants in the event included dozens of teams from both universities ranging from freshmen to graduate students.
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Note: The preview image on the gallery was the logo for the "Big Hack" that year