JP@REALNICE.NET
Google I/O 2021
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Every year, Google I/O brings the world's developers together to share, connect, and learn. To generate excitement for the 2021 event, I worked with a team at Instrument to create a web-based puzzle game inspired by punchcard computing.
I played many roles in this project, working on everything from the initial concept, to interaction and game design, to prototyping and close collaboration with the development team.
The puzzle re-imagines the punchcard as a digital game board, with each of three levels utilizing the form in a unique and increasingly cryptic way.
An expressive ASCII backdrop provides feedback throughout the experience.
Cards are validated at the end of each stage, expressed through playful animations.
Along with learning the ways of the punchcard, each level requires the player to correctly attribute a quote to a pioneering woman in programming history. These also serve as hints for the punchcard syntax.
The final challenge of the game requires the player to stack the cards they've filled out in each stage. When stacked correctly, the event dates are revealed in the ASCII background.