The Desert Island is a Simulation that requires Players to work together in order to survive being stuck on a Stranded Island. They will learn team work and cooperation as this was designed as a tool to teach people in a corporate setting.

The Desert Island is a Simulation of... a desert island. Players find themselves stranded on an Island out in the middle of no where after their boat sank. Using only the items they grabbed before the boat completely submerged, and the natural resources on the island. They must not only survive on the island, but they must also devise a plan on how to escape or get rescued from the island.

This "game" was designed to be used as a training exercise for any sort of team, including large corporations, as it focuses on Team Building, Team Work, Organization and Leadership. In order to design something that can possibly teach someone these concepts, I had to do a lot of research on exactly what that meant. Once I understood the different lessons, I then had to devise a "story sequence" that allowed the Players to explore these ideas, without feeling like they are being led by the Facilitator. I also had to devise a series of tools for the Facilitator in order to keep the game on track if it was starting to veer off course, once again, without feeling like a "Deus Ex Machina" element.

One of the interesting things about working on the Simulation was the necessary complications inside of the mechanics, while at the same time, finding ways to "keep it simple". For example, it is unrealistic to have the D&D style of health, so I had to devise a health system that was far more realistic, like breaking an arm, or starvation levels. I had to do research on how much calories a coconut gives the Player and what happens to someone as they start to starve. I had to create a system for checking how long it will take to do an action, especially when the Player is near death. One of the biggest differences between designing this and any other game is that everything had to be in excruciating detail, where sometimes it isn't best for the gameplay, but it does create "realism", whereas in an actual game, the Designer always puts gameplay first and will often drop realism in favor of gameplay.

Jonathan Gregoire - Game Design
JonathanAGregoire@gmail.com

August 2024

Ready At Dawn was closed.

October 2021

Helped ship Lone Echo 2.

July 2020

Started at Ready At Dawn as a Senior Level Designer on an unnanounced project.

July 2020

Started at Ready at Dawn as a Senior Level Designer on an unnanounced project.

March 2020

Last days at Naughty Dog working on The Last of Us Part II.

September 2019

Shipped the Last of Us Part II press demo level "Patrol".

May 2018

Started working at Naughty Dog as a Contract Single Player Level Layout Designer on The Last of Us Part II. 

December 2017

I started doing contract work for a start-up company called MyPad3D that focuses on VR experiences for corporate products.

More interestingly, I have begun to prototype my own card game on the side and have been volunteering with Sunbreak Games on an unannounced product.

July 2017

With a heavy heart, E-Line Media has shut down the Seattle studio, laying off everyone including myself. I am currently looking for new opportunities.

November 2016

Began working at E-Line Media again as a Level Designer on an unannounced and untitled game.

October 2016

Updating my website to reflect the work I did on the Forest Song with Colabee Studios. Unfortunately due to funding issues, I am no longer with them, so I am currently looking for new opportunities.

December 2015

Lots of new stuff since I last updated. Added in a short comic I made called Old Debts. Also have put up information about my role(s) on Never Alone and Never Alone: FoxTales.

January 2015

Promoted to Lead Designer on Never Alone: FoxTales at E-Line Media.

Summer 2014

Graduated Digipen as a BAGD and with a Cum Laude. Started working at E-Line Media as a Level Designer.

March 2014

Uploaded a new Beta build of Chained. Also just put up the old builds of the game for anyone interested in our very quick process and progress.

January 2014

I recently wrote a paper that was published for the IGDA about the benefit of Paper Prototyping. You can read it at this following link: http://newsletter.igda.org/2013/11/30/student-beat-faceoff-the-influences-of-board-games-on-video-games/#!