Infinite Jonathans

Game art by Ivan Maranan & Hasibe Erdemir, property of Simple Machine, LLC.

During my time with Simple Machine, I was the Writer and Narrative Designer of Infinite Jonathans—a branching narrative sci-fi comedy extravaganza!

Infinite Jonathans follows the misadventures of every occurrence of 'Jonathan' in the multiverse as they’re thrown into a series of absurd life conundrums. Players vote on how Jonathan will deal with his obstacles.

Will you help Jono thrive, or ruin this man’s life?

My Role:

• Develop the overall narrative direction and voice of the project.

  • Establish the tone and humor (dark comedy sci-fi).

• Conceive and write the game’s stories, characters, and events.

• Worldbuilding.

• Plot, map, and maintain a branching narrative.

  • Player choices change Jonathan’s journey.

  • Extensive text editing.

• Write flavor text and game dialogue.

• Feed writing into the game using in-house tools.

• Collaborate with the illustration team, directing all visuals.

• Lead a writers' room.

• Ideate and iterate on gameplay mechanics.

• Minor management of the in-house branching narrative tool’s backend (JSON).

• Write copy for pitch materials (to AdMagic/Breaking Games).

Setting & Story:

The game is set in a zany multiverse, offering a variety of settings and story paths that draw from children's fantasy, sci-fi, and contemporary cinema. These narratives typically spin off from the core backdrop of a classic American high school setting, allowing hyper-imaginative, genre-imploding adventures.

Tags:

Absurdist, Existential, Satirical, Meta

Tone:

A unique blend of dark, 4th-wall-breaking meta humor and “smiling-through-the-pain” optimism. Discussing political and socio-economic issues while promoting empathy through absurdist and fantastical stories.

Comps:

Nickelodeon cartoons, Spider-Man: Into/Across the Spider-Verse, Community (S3E4 - “Remedial Chaos Theory”), Rick & Morty, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Life is Strange, BitLife - Life Simulator.

The Infinite Jonathans story is a massive branching narrative, with 254 possible outcomes.

The above GIF is an example of how the 'STOCKBROKER' path looks in our design map (in-house branching narrative tool) and how that translates to the in-game experience.

GIFs of me navigating the story map to illustrate the scope—all the branches, outcomes, and connections.

The story map required ongoing maintenance throughout development to ensure worldbuilding consistency and compelling connections between paths. I was responsible for mapping out all possible player choices, ensuring that each story event seamlessly advanced the overall narrative.

Process:

I was contacted directly by the founder of Simple Machine, LLC, who was familiar with my work, particularly my comedic sensibility and topical interests showcased in my game pop-ups and exhibitions all around New York. After receiving an overview of the project, I pitched my take on Infinite Jonathans through a short version of a ‘Jonathan’ story path. I demonstrated examples of player choices, how I'd connect paths, and my understanding of the game’s personality.

I went with a “night club” scenario for my pitch and used the setting as a jumping-off point to call out toxic masculinity. I knew a big part of the interest in me was my specific observational lens when discussing social issues through humor, so I made sure to showcase that through my test assignment.

The writing process began in January 2019 with a series of traditional writers’ room sessions. Our core team of five took turns leading brainstorming sessions, while I led story mapping. We covered the studio walls in post-it notes (many times), creating timelines and maps of the story arcs (structures) and key moments, and their connections in the branching narrative. Though we tried digital tools, Jonathan's scope and initial collaborative cadence required a more tactile approach.

I later translated these physical maps (rough outlines) into a digital format, shown below via our in-house client.

Path by path, I built the worlds and characters, wrote the dialogue, and completed the stories—ensuring each choice had either a strong punchline or a moment of emotional weight.

I'd feed connected stories into the game in batches, and we'd play through the most recent writing I had completed—this was also how work was submitted for review. We held discussions, I received notes and revisions, and I’d implement them within the week. Stories, characters, and dialogue went through several iterations, and I remapped certain branches to ensure each story path connected.

I was and still am committed to writing meaningfully diverse, personality-packed characters.

“Tokenization is so 2000 and late” — Fergie (I think).

Testing The Text:

Your writing might work on paper or on a map, but what flows smoothly as pure text might feel rocky once plugged into a game. Narrative Design is storytelling through mechanics; in Jono’s case, it’s storytelling through player choices.

Playing through new text as soon as drafts were ready was key to evaluating each story path’s pacing and flow.

Which sections are breezy? Which are text-heavy? Do the choices feel good and make sense? Are there choices players prefer? What are their assumptions or deductions—and when should we reward or subvert them? These are all crucial considerations when crafting my branching narratives.

Family Fun!

Board Game Bar with The Team

Ladies & Jonathans, we got him.