Play the Game: Criminal Minds

Brief:

“This should be a significant piece of digital writing, created using Twine.

You should aim for the reader to be able to experience the majority of your project over a 5-8 minute period.

This might involve them restarting and choosing different branches, or it might involve them spending more time reading your text before making decisions. “

About the game:
Final project
Engine: Twine
Team Size: One
Development time: 2 months

This project is a short interactive narrative focused on decision-making, tension, and consequence. The player takes the role of a character attempting to conceal a crime within a limited number of turns while avoiding discovery. Progression is shaped by player choices, location selection, and time pressure.

The experience is designed to be replayable, encouraging players to explore different branches and outcomes across multiple playthroughs.

My contribution towards the game:

• Designed the narrative concept, structure, and branching story paths
• Planned the story flow using paper prototypes before implementation
• Implemented all logic and branching using Twine scripting
• Designed a turn-based system to create time pressure and urgency
• Balanced pacing to fit the 5 to 8 minute experience requirement
• Integrated visual and audio assets to support tone and atmosphere

As the sole creator, I was responsible for both narrative design and technical implementation within the constraints of the tool.

Design Intent:

The primary design goal was to create a tense, choice-driven experience where every decision carried weight. The turn-based structure was used to limit player actions and encourage prioritisation, reinforcing the feeling of urgency and risk.

Although the premise is serious, the tone was carefully balanced to maintain engagement and pacing without overwhelming the player. Replayability was a core consideration, with multiple viable paths leading to success or failure.

Challenges and Problem Solving:

One of the main challenges was implementing a functional turn or timer system within Twine, which is limited compared to traditional game engines. This required careful structuring of logic and variables to ensure that player choices meaningfully affected outcomes while remaining readable and manageable.

Another challenge was maintaining clarity across branching paths so players could understand the consequences of their decisions without excessive exposition.

Reflection:

This project was my first fully narrative-driven game and served as a foundation for my later work in interactive storytelling. It demonstrated how limited tools can still support complex branching narratives when structure and pacing are carefully planned.

If expanded, I would explore adding more investigative or puzzle-based elements to encourage logical deduction. This would deepen player engagement, although it would require extending the experience beyond the original brief.

This project reinforced my interest in narrative design and strengthened my understanding of branching structures, player agency, and interactive pacing.