The Morning After Christmas
An interactive storytelling game that puts the player in the shoes of tsunami survivors and victims during a historical natural disaster in Thailand.
Why I made this
I was six years old when I joined my father to volunteer at Koh Phangan, Thailand. I still remember the hollow feeling of walking through the rubble of the aftermath and the faces of the survivors and their personal experiences. Some of the stories made it to the news and to movies, but most vanished. While this event happened 16 years ago, every Christmas I still think about what happened and what could have prevented this tragedy. This game is made in memorial of those who lost their lives in the tsunami of 2004.
On the left is a picture of 6 year old me helping with furniture painting at Khao Lak Tsunami Volunteer Center
Narrative design
I designed the narrative of the game based on news reports and interviews with survivors.
Player perspective: I decided to have the player be someone who is not local to the area since the audience is likely to enter the game from a similar outsider perspective.
Timeline: The timeline of events in the game is based on the actual sequence of events in Thailand. While not everyone is in the same location, the major events and early warning signs of the tsunami happened at very specific times for everyone.
Visual design
Visuals: I designed the overall look to be minimalistic with the aesthetic of an old-school newspaper to match the game’s mood of mystery and curiosity. I decided to keep the text layout simple since I want the text to deliver clear information about the narrative. The main colors are gray and white to set a neutral tone. I used yellow to evoke the feeling of being alive, red to emphasize fear, and blue to bring out a feeling of emptiness.
Effects: To cause an emotional reaction in the player, I coded movement to specific words. I also played with the timing of when text appears, inspired by the technique of camera cutting in cinematography.