Hi! Welcome to this repository. In Between Life and Death is a game programmed using p5.js for PSYCHE: a virtual exhibition that explores the mind hosted by the Science Gallery Bengaluru from April - May 2022. If you've played the game and have some feedback/want to improve the existing game/make something completely new altogether, feel free to fork this sketch and do so. If you'd like to chat instead, shoot me an email on @arjunmakesthings@gmail.com
The concept of the game was to take a popular theory of human motivation: A Theory of Human Motivation by A.H Maslow and convert the "hierarchy of human needs" into systems of logic, which were then further applied to a digital object controlled by you, the player. Essentially, you live out your life as a particle motivated by different needs in order to reach the grand ending. But is there one at all?
These questions along with other sessions using the game as a tangible tool formed the majority of my public engagement work done during PSYCHE 2022.
If you're interested in seeing how this project took shape over the course of 3 months, you can check out this blog: https://arjunsnotion.notion.site/Arjun-s-Thesis-4a732af0f22542128c1d80a64147557a
Of course, no mountain can be conquered alone and this holds true for this project as well.
I was fortunate to have had mentors who helped me develop this project with inputs from their own areas of expertise: Shaunaq, Saibal, Madhushree, Vasudha, Gayatri, Komal, R. Ramanujam, Gautham, Shashi & Jahnavi. To be able to include inputs from different disciplines and combine them into a single complex system has been a great honour. The learnings will stay with me forever.
The Xperimenters cohort (Samyukta, Jyotsna & Snehaja) as well as my tiny friend group (Atreyo, Kriti and Alina) helped in various stages of this project by patiently testing and providing feedback that has managed to make the game "playable" today. A special thanks to Atreyo for mixing the music and Alina for helping me with the storyline & frequently keeping track of my sanity.
Hopefully, all of their efforts didn't go in vain.