Jess M. Vázquez

I'm a hobby developer from Puerto Rico, currently residing in North Carolina.

While I work as a programmer for a living, I'm on a quest to improve my skills in Game Design, with a special interest in Narrative. I'm also really into UI/UX, particularly for accessibility. 

In my most vulnerable days, games are often a form of therapy for me. I prefer to see games as art, and it's this idea which always leads me back to them each time I go through a challenging period in my life. 

Studying games is as much fun as playing them; oftentimes even more! I used to be ashamed of admitting it, but over time, I've begun to accept the joy this brings into my life as nothing but positive. ^-^

What I want, as a game designer: to positively transform people's lives and share relatable experiences through interactive media.

Some of my Tools are:

• Pencil and paper
• Unity
• Twine
• Bitsy
• Construct 3
• Scrivener
• Manga Maker ComiPo!
• GIMP / Photoshop
• Inkscape / Affinity Designer

Main Interests

• Game / Level / Narrative Design
• Gameplay Programming
• Writing / Storytelling

Other Interests

• Tabletop Design (especially for solo and journaling games)
• UI/UX and Accessibility
• Tools Development
• Pixel Art

Topics Close to my Heart and Brain

• Electronic literature / interactive fiction (IF)
• Story and narrative structures (and shapes!)
• Games as human expression (art)
• Neurodiversity and intersectional diversity
• Accessibility in tech, games, and education
• Solo (analog) gaming
• Creativity and ideation
• Serious games (or games with a purpose?)
• Games and IF in libraries and information science
• Disability and mental health
• The Puerto Rican game developers community 🇵🇷🌸
• Just in: games as culture and legacy
  • exploring the idea of gathering and preserving Puerto Rican regional games passed through generations by word of mouth, such as local Briscas rules (there are so many variations!)

Current Projects

Currently, I'm working on a second prototype for Swords & Runes. 

I’m also obsessed with Bitsy and the culture around this tool; like, totally obsessed. There are so many powerful narratives and interactive experiences coming out of it daily, and I've only just begun to explore them. I'd love to share my own vignettes and personal essays in Bitsy format.

I’m also playing around with RPG Maker for fun, but something may come out of it. I absolutely love RM; it was my first introduction to digital game development during middle school, and I’ve never looked back since then.