Cardamom is an interactive musical where the player, as a cat, becomes involved with the three tenants of a nearby apartment complex. Each tenant is dealing with their own struggles in regards to work/life balance, and through the player’s interactions can come to realize the error of their ways or descend deeper into their unhealthy lifestyles. The game is similar to a point-and-click adventure game, but being a musical, it is also interspersed with songs from the tenants that lament their hopes and fears at different points during the game.
After the beginning parts of the game, the player gets paired with the tenant they showed the most affection to, who effectively becomes their owner. This tenant is the one who the player can choose to help or hinder in improving their lifestyle. If the player plays their cards right, their tenant may even end up with one of the others!
The game offers multiple endings depending on the player’s actions. Its target audience is middle school children, and its purpose is to draw attention to the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.
Platform: PC/Tablet Game
FEATURES
- An interactive musical experience!
- Play as a cat that becomes involved with three tenants of a nearby apartment complex!
- Multiple endings depending on the player’s actions!
Cardamom in April 2016 was just myself, Bethany Martin, and Maria Ferreri, an undergraduate student at USC. After we nailed down an outline for the experience, Maria got to work writing the script while I got to work building the mechanics in Unity. By the end of the summer, the script was on its third revision and the game in Unity was beginning to take shape! From there, I recruited the rest of the team — totaling to about twenty people over the course of its development — who helped flesh out the art, write the songs, and organize everyone.
TEAM
Bethany Martin – Creative Director (IMGD)
Bryan Zhang – Co-Producer USC (IMGD)
Allison Comrie – Co-Producer (IMGD)
Catie Jones – Art Director (IMGD)
Amber Ansdell – Artist (LCAD)
Hannah Bosnian – Artist (SCA Animation)
Marcus Emery – Animator (SCA Animation)
Erika Gomi – Artist (SCA Animation)
Maria Ferreri – Lead Writer (IMGD)
Sydney Lang – Writer (IMGD)
Anna Brown – Writer
Alex Ruger – Lead Composer (Berklee)
Crystal Chan – Songwriter (IMGD)
Andy Frosberg – Composer (Berklee)
Kyle Laporte – Composer (Thorton)
Aaron Rosapepe – Sound Designer
Sherilyn Martin – Sound Assitant
Mari Kyle – Singer (IMGD)
Cuaotemo Marquez – Singer (IMGD)
Ivan Tsang – Singer (IMGD)
Jung-Ho Sohn – Engineer (IMGD)
Dave Yan- Git B!tch (IMGD)
Matt Korba – Adviser (IMGD)
Richard Lemarchand – Adviser (IMGD)
Elizabeth Swensen – Adviser (IMGD)
You can follow Cardamom on their website at http://www.cardamomgame.com/