Report on the Death of Robert Evergreen
Report on the Death of Robert Evergreen is a mixed-media journalism game. In this game, set in late 1992, the player takes on the role of the newly-hired editor in chief for struggling local New York paper, "The Local Rag". The player's task: to decide how to report on the death of successful businessman and local legend Robert Evergreen, found dead on the sidewalk outside his office Monday morning. The player listens to taped statements from people involved in the stories, examines journalists' notes, and determines how the stories will be reported in the paper. The choices players make will determine not only the success of The Local Rag, but can also have farther reaching effects on the lives of those discussed.
This game is part of the NYU Game Center Incubator 2023 cohort. I serve as Project Manager, Narrative Designer, and Writer on a team of five.
There are two playable versions of Report on the Death of Robert Evergreen - one hybrid, and one fully digital.
The hybrid or exhibition version of the game employs a mixture of physical and digital media in its design and implementation. In this version, the audio statements are listened to on physical cassette tapes using a cassette player and headphones, transcripts of the audios are printed out, and the player is given a notebook and pen to take whatever notes they wish to.
The fully digital version replaces the physical cassette player and tapes with a folder of combined audios and transcripts.
The demo of the game, available to download for Mac and PC at itch.io, includes the first of what will be three levels.
Design Goals
The early 1990s was a period of immense political, cultural, and social change in the United States. As a team, we are interested in examining the nature of this change as experienced by the ordinary people caught in its wake.
Using the lens of investigative local journalism, players compelled to make very difficult choices in which the "correct" answer is uncertain. What values will the player prioritize? Will they seek to sell the paper at all costs, will they try to preserve the privacy and reputations of story subjects, or will they seek to shake up the system?