Congratulations to Abby Yaffe, Jordan Grayson (BFAs ’22) and Gurn Group for the launch of Genome: Body! Originally a project in our BFA Capstone program, Genome went on to receive the Alfred P. Sloan Grant in 2022 – a yearly grant to fund development of games which portray science & technology with originality, and connect our students with scientists during the development process.
Game description from Abby:
Genome is a series of games about climate change, environmental terrorism, and epigenetics. Each iteration of it comes with different explorations of mechanics, aesthetics, and writing. Genome: Body is the third and final iteration, its existence funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In Genome: Body, a natural disaster resultant from climate change threatens the livelihood of the people of Carmel. In Genome: Body, from within the body of a flying whale, intake pollutants from buildings below you. Input the pollutants into the whale’s body, which then get transferred back to Carmel city below. Each district of the city and its citizens have their own stat, “Biological Chaos,” that represents the citizens’ susceptibility to becoming sick or morphing into a creature that can survive the upcoming Great Flood. Receive prayers every few years from the citizens below asking you to either purposefully change their bodies with these pollutants, to test science with these pollutants, or never be touched by the pollutants. Balance the Biological Chaos by inputting or removing pollutants from the citizens’ bodies, hoping to spur changes that will help them survive The Great Flood, while making sure enough citizens survive the harsh bereavement of pollution into their bodies to continue remembering human history.