I’m G.C. Katz, a narrative designer crafting gripping horror games from my independent studio, Nightwell Games. I specialize in procedural storytelling and dynamic narratives that seamlessly adapt the story around player choices and game mechanics. Read some highlights below and decide if I’m right for your team!
For a full list of publications, check out my games, stories and articles, and novel. The highlights can also be found on my resume.
Like what you see? Get in touch!
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Professional Work
Blackbirds
Redactor
Nightwell Games: My Indie Studio
The Wolf of Derevnya
What the Sea Wants
Nightwell Inn
Jam Games
Arbor
Care
Blackbirds
Professional Project
The gods failed us. The powerful betrayed us. Rise to meet your fate.
BLACKBIRDS RPG from Andrews McMeel Universal is set in a dark fantasy world where a cabal of power-hungry Oligarchs has stolen godhood. Their horrific act rent the fabric of reality, allowing corrupt magic to undermine the world’s natural order. And, soon, the Oligarchs themselves will return to the mortal plane and remake it as they desire.
As one of two narrative designers on the upcoming Gone from Forever module, I am crafting the main plot for this module. I also created this calendar. More to come!
➣ World-building: Calendar (1200 words)
Redactor
Professional Project
Congratulations on your new role as Content Review Specialist at Liaise, the world’s largest social platform! You’ll be responsible for reviewing content that has been flagged by users as violating our super high ethics standards. Keep in mind that these cases may not be as straightforward as they seem. We expect you to report to duty in two hours at Box #2387. Best of luck in your new position!
Redactor is an upcoming Papers, Please-style game set in a dystopian future, coming soon from Quest Yard.
As a member of the writing team, I wrote about half of the social media posts and chats.
➣ Script excerpt: Meeting RPT (200 words)
The Wolf of Derevnya
Nightwell Games
In this fully-illustrated choose your own adventure, a danger stalks a small village in Kievan Rus’, picking off the villagers one by one. You must find out who or what is behind the attacks before the whole town is wiped out–but to find the answer, you must confront your own past.
This game is out now on Steam and Itch. Chapter 1 was initially created for Spooktober 2022. It also placed #5 out of 28 in inkJam 2022.
➣ Complete game: The Wolf of Derevnya on Steam (6-7 hours)
➣ Playable demo: Chapter One (40-minute play)
➣ Flowchart: Chapter One (200 words)
➣ Script excerpt: Awakening (1000 words)
➣ Characters: Profiles and Barks (500 words)
➣ World-building: Locations (200 words)
➣ Process: The Case of the Vanishing Villagers (300 words)
What the Sea Wants
Nightwell Games
Terror at sea! As captain of the pirate ship North Wind, you’ve just made a lucky score–but the treasure came contaminated with a deadly fungus. Rally your crew, stop the infection, and stay alive long enough to reach harbor in this resource management survival horror game.
➣ Playable game: Demo (5-minute play)
➣ Flowchart: Demo (200 words)
➣ Script excerpt: The First Battle Wound (600 words)
➣ Characters: Profiles and Barks (600 words)
➣ Technical (procedural text): The Urchins (300 words)
➣ Technical (algorithm): Reputation System (400 words)
➣ Technical (algorithm): The Character Generator (300 words)
➣ Process: Prototype to Alpha (800 words)
Nightwell Inn
Nightwell Games
In a world rent apart by magic, a glimmer of light stands on the edge of the rift. Build and manage your inn in this gritty, high-difficulty sim game. Gather resources, construct buildings, craft magical charms, and defend your inn against monsters and brigands. But when the rift begins to widen, you’ll face the greatest challenge of all: Convincing the world’s three ever-warring factions to work together.
➣ World-building: The Shattered World (700 words)
Arbor
Team Jam Project
When your father leaves for war, he leaves you to care for the tree you planted together. Tend your garden, sell crops, and listen to your neighbors’ stories in this gentle mini sim about finding hope in the face of war.
This game placed #12 out of 100 in Adventure Jam 2022. As the producer and lead narrative designer on a team of nine, I directed the overall story and wrote the letters.
➣ Playable game: Finished game (30-minute play)
➣ Prose: Selected letters (500 words)
Care
Personal Jam Project
Don’t you know I care about you? A fifteen-minute exploration of emotional abuse in the form of a point-and-click exploration of the victim’s mind, narrated by their abuser. This game makes use of indirect storytelling, complex character development, and an unreliable narrator.
This game was created for Brackey’s Game Jam 7.
➣ Playable game: Finished game (15-minute play)
➣ Prose: Complete script (1200 words)
Introductory Rates
Looking to hire me for short-term contract work? For a limited time while I’m building my portfolio, I’m offering introductory rates of $25/hour or 10¢/word for game writing work. These rates are flexible; I may offer lower rates or alternate compensation methods for small teams and projects I’m particularly interested in. If you’re interested in taking advantage of these rates, please contact me–I may end this offer at any time.
What About the Art?
Yep, most of the art in this portfolio is mine too! (Exceptions include Keep It Together, The Wolf of Derevnya, and Blackbirds.) If you’re interested in hiring me for a position that involves art and you’d like to see more of my work, get in touch–or just look around.
And the Programming?
Busted again! Yep, I’m a programmer too, and I did all or almost all the programming on Night of the Wolf, Keep it Together, Care, and What the Sea Wants. My skills are focused on menu-based games, strings and dialogue, and back-end algorithms. Technical narrative design and advanced Ink/Twine are a specialty. If your game is a good fit, I’d be happy to work with you!