About Me
Hi! I’m John Foxwell, game and narrative designer. I currently work at Aquila Interactive as the Lead Game Content Designer on Gilded Destiny, a grand strategy game set during the Industrial Revolution.
I’ve always been interested in how people engage with stories – what causes them to feel immersed in fictional worlds, and what makes those experiences entertaining and meaningful. Before transitioning to game development, I was an academic specialising in cognitive narratology (essentially the study of how the mind engages with actual narratives, and of how the mind uses narrative as a sense-making tool in everyday experience).
What excites me most of all about making games are the challenges that arise from working within a game’s limitations. I’m as fond of finding the balance between abstraction, realism, and fun when designing mechanics and systems, as I am of terms of crafting a narrative and a world that suits those mechanics and systems.
Thank you for checking out my portfolio, and please feel free to get in touch!
Gilded Destiny
A Grand Strategy Game set during the Industrial Revolution.
Release Date: Pending
Studio: Aquila Interactive
Role: Lead Game Content Designer
- Writing and implementing branching event chains
- Designing systems/mechanics for Technology, Colonization, and Rebellions
- Designing and implementing policy sets, tech trees, etc.
- Various UI and UX design in collaboration with the art team
- Managing the game content design team and overseeing their work
Infinite Night
Point-and-click mystery game based on the 1001 Nights.
Sold to and published on ArmorGames in Dec 2022 (38,000 plays, 89% positive rating).
A solo project (including original art and music) made in Unity.
Reviews:
“Genuinely such a delight to play! I’m obsessed with the endings and especially the magic of this world!”
“Amazing game! I loved the riddles, also nice writing and story overall.”
“I loved the Djinn, he was great to talk to.”
“After over a decade of using Armorgames, I only created an account today so that I could say this was a great game! … The puzzles were challenging enough I couldn’t just blow through, but logical enough that I didn’t need a walkthrough.”
“Loved the ambience of each screen, and the dialogue was really immersive.”
Play in-browser | Video playthrough | Sample dialogue flowcharts
What Ails Thee?
A puzzle/simulation game where players take on the role of a medieval physician’s apprentice and must balance the humours of their patients.
Made as part of Greenwich Game Jam 23.2 (Theme: Welfare). Released on itch.io.
Roles: Game Design, Text, Programming.
The Stranger
Short film script.
Genre: Psychological horror
Duration: 10 mins
While watching his daughter at the playground, single father Tim meets a woman with a rather unsettling manner.
Other Men
Short film script.
Genre: Drama
Duration: 10 mins
On a train carriage late at night, two veterans swap war stories in front of an audience anticipating violence.