The Game
I was Lead Writer and Narrative Designer of the Queen’s DIlemma, which advances the setting from low-fantasy monarchy to a low-steampunk industrial age, roughly doubling its predecessor in both play length and narrative complexity. Players no longer represent Great Houses, but individual characters—introducing a more intimate, roleplay-driven experience. The Queen plays an active role, and player loyalty is constantly tested through both narrative choices and game mechanics. With a mysterious force rising from beyond the sea, player characters face the most consequential choice of their lives—a finale that tests everything they’ve built or destroyed.
Trailer: The King is dead, long live the Queen
Expanded the setting from low-fantasy monarchy to low-steampunk industrialism, introducing themes of class struggle, ideological unrest, and environmental impact
Designed six distinct character arcs, each with layered goals and branching moral choices tied to evolving agendas
Authored seven large-scale reactive storylines, with multiple endings and over 300 dilemmas; ensured narrative consistency across divergent outcomes
Led a live prequel campaign where backers voted on dilemmas that shaped canonical backstory and factional lore
Oversaw narrative integration with redesigned gameplay systems, preserving the series’ ethical complexity while adapting to new mechanics
Coordinated writing and iterative revision across an interdisciplinary team using proprietary narrative tools and collaborative drafting environments
My Role
Some selected concepts and writings
The Queen’s Dilemma takes a more intimate approach, giving each player a specific character with a personal backstory and a dedicated story arc. Players must fulfill private objectives while making individual choices that gradually shape their character’s trajectory—both narratively and mechanically.
New Characters
Horrible truths revealed
In this world, consciousness resides in blood. Through alchemical processes, blended bloodlines can share thought, sensation, and identity. A forbidden ritual—known as the Rite of Immortality—allows a mother to pierce her placenta during birth, merging her blood with her daughter’s. Over time, she subsumes the child's mind, taking over her body and extending her life. The cycle repeats, body after body, as the original consciousness endures while each host withers into decay.
Political Dilemma
“The white mask of the Kauppian Doge is said to be extremely old, belonging to Lyria, the Divine Daughter of arts and creativity herself. The mask is a remarkable artifact, said to inspire extreme ingenuity in the wearer—bordering on esoteric powers. The Rector asks us to requisition it for ourselves to study its secrets, but this would be embarrassing for the Doge, who still represents authority in Kauppias. Do we requisition the Mask of Lyria to analyze its secrets?”
An Effective Kickstarter
The Queen’s Ascent
During the Queen’s Dilemma Kickstarter campaign, we ran a live prequel event titled Age of Disorder. Backers took on the role of the Queen’s Council of Loyals—a large voting assembly that decided one narrative dilemma every few days. Each decision shaped the foundational lore of the final game and unlocked mechanical content in place of traditional stretch goals. Across 17 dilemmas, over 500 players voted regularly, co-authoring the history that would define the world to come.
You can read the full story in the Kickstarter posts, starting here
