Kara Stone

Last updated
Kara Stone
Born1989 (age 34–35)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s) Video game designer, artist, scholar

Kara Stone (born 1989) is an independent Canadian video game designer, artist, and academic.

Contents

Stone has produced a number of notable independent games over the course of her career, including Medication Mediation, [1] Sext Adventure, [2] and Ritual of the Moon. [3] Her work largely focuses on the intersection of game design, disability, and gender. [1] [4] [5] She is also a member of the Different Games collective. [6]

Early life

Stone was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. [7] She is a graduate of Etobicoke School of the Arts and holds both a BFA in Film Production and an MA in Communication and Culture from York University. She has a Ph.D in Film & Digital Media from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is an assistant professor at the Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary. [8]

Career

Stone's earliest artworks were not in the medium of video games. One notable early work, 2012's Polaroid Panic, consisted of Polaroid photos Stone would capture of her face whenever she experienced a panic attack. [5] [9] Stone's first significant games work came two years later, with Medication Meditation, published in collaboration with Dames Making Games. [10] Medication Meditation consists of an "unwinnable compilation of activities", each of which reflecting an experience associated with living with mental illness. [1] The game was well-received, and saw favorable coverage in outlets such as Kill Screen and The Atlantic. [1] [11]

That same year, Stone released one of her most popular games, Sext Adventure, written by Stone and developed by Nadine Lessio. In Sext Adventure, the player has a sexual encounter with a fictional robot via text message (later expanded to web browsers), that eventually subverts and challenges traditional notions of what a "sexting" conversation looks like. [12] While the game begins like a normal sexting conversation (including real nudity) eventually the sexting robot becomes "confused" and begins to produce errors, including mistaking its own presumed gender and the gender of the player. The game concludes in one of twenty different endings. [13]

Another major release by Stone is 2019's Ritual of the Moon. Over the course of 28 real-time days, Ritual of the Moon slowly unveils the narrative of a witch who has been exiled to the moon. [8] The art style of the game is composed entirely of scanned and digitally manipulated images. [3] Many reviews focused on the unique 28-day structure of the game, including a full 28-day series on RockPaperShotgun. [14]

Stone's most recent work is UnearthU, which was released in 2021. Seemingly a straightforward wellness app, UnearthU gradually reveals a complex narrative that critically interrogates mindfulness, wellness, and the Silicon Valley tech industry. [15]

Works

Video games

YearTitle
2014Medication Meditation
Sext Adventure
Techo Tarot
2015Cyclothymia
2018the earth is a better person than me
2019Ritual of the Moon
2021UnearthU

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> Fantasy role-playing game

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Meretzky</span> American video game developer

Steven Eric Meretzky is an American video game developer. He is best known for creating Infocom games in the early 1980s, including collaborating with author Douglas Adams on the interactive fiction version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the first games to be certified "platinum" by the Software Publishers Association. Later, he created the Spellcasting trilogy, the flagship adventure series of Legend Entertainment. He has been involved in almost every aspect of game development, from design to production to quality assurance and box design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Schafer</span> American video game designer

Timothy John Schafer is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Brütal Legend and Broken Age, co-designer of Day of the Tentacle, and assistant designer on The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. He is well known in the video game industry for his storytelling and comedic writing style, and has been given both a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Developers Choice Awards, and a BAFTA Fellowship for his contributions to the industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Developers Choice Awards</span> Annual award for games and developers

The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.

<i>Dungeon Masters Guide</i> Role-playing game rulebook

The Dungeon Master's Guide is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The Dungeon Master's Guide contains rules concerning the arbitration and administration of a game, and is intended for use by the game's Dungeon Master.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Developers Conference</span> Annual video game developer conference

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Bleszinski</span> American video game designer

Cliff Bleszinski, popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work on the Unreal and Gears of War series while at Epic Games. After leaving Epic in 2012, he co-founded Boss Key Productions in 2014 which closed in 2018 after the commercial failure of the multiplayer shooter LawBreakers. Since Boss Key's closure, Bleszinski has spent his time with theater and writing.

Abeir-Toril is the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten RealmsDungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings, and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microids</span> French video game developer and publisher

Microids is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners in international markets. Through expanding its staff and development teams, Microïds generated funds to expand from just development to publishing and distribution and opening international offices. The company merged with MC2 in 2003 to create MC2-Microïds, whereafter it acquired publishers Wanadoo Edition and Cryo Interactive. Grassiano left MC2-Microïds in 2005; under new management, MC2-Microïds was briefly renamed MC2 before returning to the old Microïds name. It was then acquired by Anuman Interactive in 2010, which itself was renamed Microïds in 2019.

<i>Mega Man V</i> (Game Boy) 1994 action-platform video game published by Capcom

Mega Man V is a video game published by Capcom for the Game Boy handheld game console. It is the fifth game in the Game Boy version of the original Mega Man series. The game follows the adventures of the protagonist Mega Man as he must defend the Earth from a group of powerful robots from outer space called the Stardroids. Mega Man V is unique among the Game Boy Mega Man games as it features original bosses rather than recycling those from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Mega Man games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third-person shooter</span> Video game genre

Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em up games also employ a third-person perspective, the TPS genre is distinguished by having the game presented with the player's avatar as a primary focus of the camera's view.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metroidvania</span> Video game genre

Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series Metroid and Castlevania, based on the template from Metroid (1986), Castlevania II (1987), Super Metroid (1994), and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997).

<i>Deliver Us the Moon</i> 2018 video game

Deliver Us the Moon is an adventure-puzzle video game developed by Dutch game development studio KeokeN Interactive. It was first self-published as Deliver Us the Moon: Fortuna for Windows on September 28, 2018. The game later saw an expanded release on October 10, 2019, with Wired Productions serving as the publisher for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions on April 24, 2020. The game was released for Google Stadia on June 1, 2022, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on June 23, 2022 and for Nintendo Switch on July 16, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Private Division</span> American video game publisher

Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was founded by Take-Two Interactive and announced in December 2017. Private Division funds and publishes indie games developed by small to mid-sized studios. This includes taking over Kerbal Space Program publishing and releasing titles from Obsidian Entertainment, Panache Digital Games, and V1 Interactive.

<i>Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon</i> 2018 platform game

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a 2018 platform game developed and published by Inti Creates. It is a companion title to developer ArtPlay's 2019 game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and was conceived to fulfill the promise for a retro-style accompaniment to Ritual of the Night after its Kickstarter campaign exceeded crowdfunding goals. Curse of the Moon follows Zangetsu, a cursed swordsman hunting down demons for revenge, as well as three other playable characters named Miriam, Alfred and Gebel. It features an 8-bit aesthetic and gameplay style similar to Castlevania games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), particularly Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989).

Dames Making Games (DMG) was a Toronto-based non-profit organization that provided resources for gender minorities interested in the video games industry. Providing resources and hosting workshops, Dames Making Games aimed to create a comfortable platform for women, non-binary, femme and queer people the exploration of video game development.

The 20th Game Developers Choice Awards was an annual awards ceremony by Game Developers Choice Awards for outstanding game developers and video games held on March 18, 2020, hosted by Kim Swift. Though normally held at the Game Developers Conference, due to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, the conference was postponed to later in 2020, and the awards were presented via online streaming media, alongside the Independent Games Festival awards.

<i>Viewfinder</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Viewfinder is a puzzle video game developed by Sad Owl Studios and published by Thunderful Publishing. The game was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows in July 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Zack Kotzer (28 October 2013). "Mental Illness, the Video Game". The Atlantic. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  2. ↑ Megan Farokhmanesh (16 July 2014). "Sexting with a bot: Exploring tech and intimacy with dirty messages". Polygon. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 Samuel Horti (20 April 2019). "Ritual of the Moon is a meditative game that takes 28 days to complete, out now". PC Gamer. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  4. ↑ Stone, Kara (December 2018). "Time and Reparative Game Design: Queerness, Disability, and Affect". Game Studies. 18 (3). Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 "GDC 2019 Indie Soapbox". GDC. 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Different Games Collective Members". Different Games. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Artist Profile". The Hand Eye Society. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 Colin Campbell (9 May 2018). "This gorgeous student game is designed to be played in time with the lunar cycle". Polygon. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Polaroid Panic on Vimeo". Kara Stone. 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "DMG Toronto - Medication Mediation, a game by Kara Stone". DMG Toronto. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Zack Kotzer (22 October 2013). "MedicationMeditation transforms mental illness into mini-games". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  12. ↑ Dan Van Winkle (8 July 2014). "In Sext Adventure, a Sexting Robot Doesn't Conform to Your Human Notions of Gender". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Olivia Solon (10 July 2014). "I had bot sex and it left me confused". Wired. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Alice Bell (16 April 2019). "Ritual Of The Moon diary: day two but really day three". Rock Paper Shotgun . Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. ↑ Lewis Gordon (6 April 2021). "'UnearthU' Is a Mindfulness App That Mocks the Tech Industry". Waypoint . Retrieved 30 September 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.