Hellirrelevant
Original concepts, imagery, and written content © Rohil Aniruth & Thribing Games, 2020. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Tineyy Arts, property of Thribing Games.
It Started As A Game Called “Irrelevant”…
About:
Irrelevant is a branching narrative “influencer culture” satire prototype for Android/Google Play.
Demon Lord Meglocks offers your squad fame and fortune if you provide him with souls and a hefty % of that sweet, sweet brand-deal cash. Your influencer crew is faced with choices that will either boost their clout or see them fall into “irrelevance.” Should you have a boxing match with a rival influencer? Maybe drop a merch line? Rap battle a mainstream celeb? Flex your pet T-Rex?
Each member of your team has stats that give them an edge in certain scenarios; it’s up to you to manage their personalities and maximize followers.
Made in collaboration with Jose Deschamps (Niantic’s Pokémon GO).
My Role:
Ideation of core mechanics.
Conceive and write the game’s stories, characters & events.
Plotting/mapping and maintaining a branching narrative. (Player choices change the story path.)
Writing flavor text & game dialogue.
Art direction.
Illustrate all of the game’s art.
Irrelevant was the project that first attracted the attention of Simple Machine, the studio where I’d land a position as Narrative Designer in 2018-2020. My work on this branching narrative game prepared me to take on development of Infinite Jonathans.
Irrelevant is reworked and is currently in development as Hellirrelevant under Thribing Games
Think: If Fear & Hunger meets The Devil Wears Prada…
About:
The story now follows four creatives within the intersection of art, streetwear and high fashion going through the grueling interview process to become the next creative director of Hell—yes, Hell, like eternal damnation Hell, looking for a desperate rebrand to become the cool, edgy realm again.
Which of the candidates will have the right vision and be the right culture fit to bring Hell back from obscurity?
The project still satirizes influencer culture but expands on it a bit further to include the fine art world and even academia.
The game art references and parodies major fashion/creative brands and is a more conscious critique of capitalism and exploration of power dynamics and identity freedoms/self-actualization.
My Role:
Ideation of core mechanics.
Conceive and write the game’s stories, characters & events.
Plotting/mapping and maintaining a branching narrative.
Writing flavor text & game dialogue.
Art direction, character design.
Main Cast: Cheeky Opulence and Yushi Hang
Various Enemies, Environments, Items
