Engine is a browser-based tool for creating and publishing tiny stories. It was my thesis project for my undergraduate Computing & the Arts degree at Yale University.

An ode to a handmade web and retro technology with heavy inspiration from interactive fiction and old school MUDs/dungeon crawlers, Engine is a creative medium and tool that encourages the generation of non-linear narratives and experiences through a tool with unique affordances and extreme constraints. Image, text, and sound from an eclectic library are used to compose each scene tile on a 5x5 coordinate-based grid (allowing for 25 total scenes). In play, adjacent tiles (north, east, west, south) can be navigated to by clicking or arrow keys—where a spatial navigation system takes place in both play and editing. As a result, the stories that can be told with Engine range from games, experiences, to non-linear, branching narratives that consider spatiality on the web.

Most notably, Engine has a voice. Engine shares its own stories while users assemble their own. The software shares its feelings with creators in the editing process, providing non-technical guidance. Accompanied with a tutorial system, a ‘status bar’ that tells you about its feelings, and tooltips when engaging with nearly every interface element—relationships between subject & object, creator & player, and author & designer are investigated. Engine games can be published, shared, and remixed with your friends. Unlike modern day software that is often obfuscated, Engine is open-source and legible: an ode to the functional structure and ethos of early web projects.

Exhibitions

• Endnotes (Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition), Yale School of Art,2022

---

Images