I had to create a choice-based narrative that unfolds in the final moments before a movie’s opening scene. Using theme, environment, and character tension to shape the lead-in, I guided the players through meaningful choices that all converge on the same cinematic beginning.

Movie: I chose The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

How can I retell a familiar story, the opening of The Amazing Spider-Man, from an unfamiliar angle while letting players feel the emotional stakes behind it?

I knew this couldn’t be a rewrite of Peter’s perspective. It had to be centered on a different perspective, moral ambiguity, and environmental storytelling.

I set out to create a game where players would step into the world of Oscorp, inhabiting the role of an undercover agent on a rainy Brooklyn night in 2000.

To solve this, I leaned into first-person immersion. By designing for an internal-exploratory point of view, players were encouraged to explore and choose their way through the Parkers’ home.

In my game, I asked:
What if players could slow down and investigate the details that the camera only grazes over?

This led me to rewatch the first scene of The Amazing Spider-Man for rich environmental cues:
1. A jagged window hole that raises questions
2. Footsteps in the hallway that create anticipation
3. The faint shuffle of Peter Parker unaware of the intruder

Each detail became a narrative thread.

Designing these threads required thinking like both a filmmaker and a UX designer: how will players discover clues at their own pace?

A major design insight emerged:
The game should feel uncomfortable. Not broken, but intentionally conflicted.

So I integrated dissonance to reflect the agent’s internal struggle. The player’s mission (break in, retrieve files, escape) directly conflicts with the emotional friction created by:

1. Peter’s soft footsteps
2. His tiny voice calling “Dad?”
3. The visible care Richard and Mary show as they flee with him

This tension became the heart of the design solution:
Use dissonance to humanize the antagonist.

The theme of responsibility that comes with transformative power is central to both the original movie, The Amazing Spider-Man and my game.

This game enriches the original theme by emphasizing that power must be honed through ethical guidance, which is shown through Richard Parker’s meticulous notes.

The branching structure in Twine supported the design philosophy: choices that create tension, not diverging timelines.

Timed typewriter effects and controlled pacing became UX tools for shaping mood, guiding attention, and anchoring the player in a rainy New York night that feels close, wet, and alive.