Visual Game & Media Design graduation project
Student: Milas Ray Manley Norman
Year: 2025
Don’t analyze your life more than you live it. Does this also apply to making art from the heart?
The goal of my master’s thesis was to develop a video game with heart, and through theory and evaluation I approximated a definition of the word heart. The idea is that heart will be perceived by the player if the game comes from a genuine place of humanity.
Thus, my method consisted of delving deep into my own life and subconsciousness to imbue the game with reverberating memories. By repurposing these authentic memories from my own life into a video game – giving them another form and frame – I created Muddy Hearts.
The process was organic and anti-systematic, where impulsiveness, intuition and emotion guided design choices. I avoided formulaic theory and check-box design, and instead incorporated approach which tapped from my latent mind.
Muddy Hearts is a pixel art and 3D hybrid video game platformer. The game features cinematic sequences and light-puzzle gameplay to engage the player in its immersive storytelling. You play as a brother searching for his sister, but why is everyone acting like she isn’t coming back and who looks back at you when you walk into your own reflection?
This game comes from my heart. It is a culmination of my life thus far. It is both a critique of formulas and over-intellectualization in academia and life, a self-exploration of my time at the academy, and a love letter to the artistic value a video game can have. Games can be much more than profitable entertainment. It can be an invitation to empathy.
About the project
Keywords: Platformer | Puzzle | Cutscenes | Atmospheric | Immersive
Project objective: Define the word “heart” and make a game that has “heart”.
One focus was on Level Design, utilizing spatiality, composition, lighting, architecture, and varying gameplay elements to engage and invite the player into an immersive experience. It features platforming, pushing climbable boxes, being chased, climbing ledges and ladder, and switches that move objects.
Another focus was on the Narrative Design, where everything above were fused with cinematics, voice acting, animations, visuals and sound to tell a mind-bending and original story with all the games elements. Gameplay had to add to the story and facilitate a strong relationship between player and the main child character.
Specialized Level Designer and Narrative Designer with a lot of experience in creating atmospheric, immersive and emotional video game experiences. 1 year of experience in the industry and many years’ experiences in the Danish video game landscape through schoolwork, DADIU, game jams, networking event, showcases of my own games and one experience with my own alk. I also manage my own project, The Villa Machine, a 2D point and click mystery game with branching dialogue and choices.
Title: Muddy Hearts
Made in: Unreal Engine 5
Screenshots
