Nicky Case (born September 11, 1994[1]) is a Canadian indie game developer, web designer, and critical theorist. They have developed interactive websites and online video games such as Coming Out Simulator, Explorable Explanations, We Become What We Behold and Parable of the Polygons.[2][3] Case's works are characterized by their recurring goal to "help people understand complex systems", presenting dilemmas and potential resolutions in a philosophical manner.[4] Case has also collaborated with theorists and academics such as Stefano Gualeni,[5]Vi Hart and Bret Victor.
Besides designing and developing games, Case has been active on their website and blog, ncase.me, regularly updating posts, short stories and comics about mental health, games and media culture, COVID-19 safety, and social science, among others. They have also written educational blog posts teaching mathematics, how to code, and how to make games.[6]
Career
Case began game development at a young age of 13 through the creation of various independent flash games on the media platform Newgrounds. Case's first entry into the gaming industry was an internship at Electronic Arts (EA), with the help of a Newgrounds game made by Case (literally titled :the game:) that became popular.[7]
Despite saying that EA was queer-friendly–describing it as "...ahead of the time for queer acceptance"–Case said that they were inspired to become independent by the way that projects could fall through any moment at EA.[7] As of 2023, they have made 42 websites, games, videos, blogs, and other content, all of them available on their official website.[8]
First independent projects and Coming Out Simulator 2014
Through a crowdfunding platform, Case funded their first independent project Nothing To Hide.[9] During the project, however, Case worked on a few side projects that turned out to be more successful than the game itself.[9] The first was an instructional tutorial on how the shadows worked in the game,[4] and the second was a submission for the Nar8 Game Jam4 for which they made Coming Out Simulator 2014.[9]Coming Out Simulator, which told their personal story about coming out to their parents as bisexual and the consequences thereof. Though, as opposed to reality, the game had multiple endings, depending on the choices by the player. The response to the game was very positive. It was nominated to the Independent Games Festival's 2015 edition in the Excellence in Narrative category.[10] and Case even received emails from queer individuals who related to and felt seen by the game.[9] These side steps were their first foray into interactive and exploratory design.
The shadow explainer also achieved success and reached the front page of the image website Imgur, and Case was approached by interaction designer Bret Victor to join a workshop where they met Vi Hart,[9] an educative YouTuber with a focus on mathematics. This led to a collaboration project named Parable of the Polygons, an interactive explanation about the complications of bias and discrimination. It received overwhelmingly positive critical reception, with Salon's Joanna Rothkopf calling it "an adorable and eloquent primer on the issues of segregation".[11][12]
With the success of the shadow explainer, Parable of the Polygons and following interactive games, Nicky Case began to truly build their name as an interactive designer. It became their mission "to explore the yet vastly under-explored medium of interactivity".[13] And they began to help others with this pursuit as well by setting up Explorable Explanations, a platform where others could make and publish interactive articles of all types and educational fields.
Adventures with Anxiety
Case's latest release took a slight step away from system-based gameplay, and back to the more narrative interactivity of Coming Out Simulator 2014. Adventures with Anxiety represents Case's own struggles with accepting and coping with anxiety disorder.[7] The game's intent was to help teach players how to have a better relationship with themselves as well as with other people.[7] In an interview with Storybench, Case explains that games are their format of choice, just like a musician uses song to express themselves. For Case, "[they] could use the choices in the game to force the player to reflect on, and express, their own deepest fears and then create a healthier relationship with those fears".[14]
Adventures with Anxiety, along with some of their other projects, are public domain, and the webpage of the games feature the full source code for free. Case explains that they benefited greatly from the public open source codes of others when they started out making games. They want to pay it forward and stimulate others to make games as well.[14]
In 2017, Case released the interactive presentation The Evolution of Trust. In an attempt to explain the Christmas truce and the rise of mistrust in modern society, The Evolution of Trust uses a prisoner's dilemma–like thought experiment. As the presentation goes on, most optimal play styles to the experiment are discussed, and the experiment is expanded upon to include factors like human mistakes and repeated interactions.[21][22][23]
During the COVID-19pandemic, Case has also released an explainer about the spread of COVID-19 and how they interact with lockdown measures,[24] and an awareness comic about the use and need for contact tracing apps that are surveillance free.[25]
Personal life
Case is a trans woman and has chosen to be referred to in female or gender-neutral terms.[26] They were born in Singapore and moved with their family to Vancouver when they were young.[9]
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