William Drew

Writer for all digital content in this hybrid digital/physical experience created by Spyscape in collaboration with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment and DC. Story by Gail Simone.

“users truly do feel like they're chatting with DC Universe's infamous characters” - Time Out New York

Tickets on sale here: https://spyscape.com/batman

I was commissioned by Future Everything and Mozilla to create a piece of interactive fiction exploring themes of Money and the Environment, as part of Mozfest 2022.

The result of this was a short piece written in Twine called Mine, which takes the reader into three different locations and times, connected by the idea of “mining” and scarcity.

You can play Mine here: https://veniceasadolphin.itch.io/mine

Shortlisted for the if:book UK New Media Writing Prize 2021

All of Me: The Twine is an intimate, absurd online exploration for one player of wanting to live, wanting to die and what can happen if we sit together with the dark.

Adapted from the grudgingly hopeful, occasionally funny stage show, it is Caroline Horton and director Alex Swift’s first leap into the world of interactive digital work. In this new Twine version, the player must navigate their own journey through this unapologetically dark show about dark things.

I was brought on board as Interactive Dramaturg, guiding Caroline and Alex through the world of interactive fiction and the format of Twine and exploring possible structures of interactivity.

“Superb creative innovation” – The Stage

“The dramaturgy of this piece is so clever – William Drew’s work is sharp and the journey of the protagonist (of me?) is carefully crafted” – Exeunt Magazine

All of Me: The Twine is available to play for free from the China Plate website here.

Threads is a digital experience for 10-14-year-olds, exploring sustainable fashion.

It was commissioned by Global Goals Centre in Bristol.

I worked with illustrator Ellie Shipman and developer Viki Johnson to create it in Unity.

It’s available here: https://globalgoalscentre.org/project/threads/

How can we secure our fortunes in the future of work?

This immersive story-game, made by BAFTA-winning play-makers Coney in partnership with the Future Work Centre of the RSA uses experiential focus groups, playing futures and provoking debate to take us on a journey into 2035.

“Here at VSNRY we’re tackling the Big Qs, Big Qs about you. We do this with our experiential focus groups: playing futures, provoking debate and discovering how we feel in the face of uncertainty.

But what if your future wasn’t uncertain? What if all the tools we need to better grasp certainty are right here?

Join VSNRY for the invaluable opportunity to better understand your own fortune, simply by answering some simple questions and making some minor decisions. Together, we can find more options in the evolving present.

Writer for this Coney project, in collaboration with the RSA’s Centre for Future Work. This was intended to be part of Futurefest in March 2020. Due to the pandemic, the work was moved online and one of the three interactive stories I wrote are hosted on the Futurefest website here: https://futurefest.org/experience/big-tech-future/

COULD YOU MAKE THE CUT AS A COLD WAR SPY?

Can you invent a cover story, plant a dead-drop or tail a suspect? Can you pass the miniscule tests of character and behaviour devised by The Circus to evaluate your ‘agent potential’?

I was lead writer on this sell-out real world street game in September 2018 created by The Ink Factory and Fire Hazard Games.

kintsugi haiku was created for Global Game Jam 2020, the theme of which was “repair”. It is an interactive poem where the reader can change the words to create their own version.

It’s available for free on itch.

You’re invited on an adventure in search of the Cheshire Cat. Follow the mischievous cat’s curious clues on a journey across the city into the strange, surreal and absurd. Weave through galleries in search of reflection, scour the literary archives for wares of Wonderland word and descend into cellar vaults to paws for drinks. Discover a darker side to the world of Wonderland. And perhaps to yourself, too.

I was part of the game design team for HiddenCity on this immersive game that takes place across the streets of London.

https://cheshirecat.inthehiddencity.com/

The Green Gold Conspiracy was a Coney project commissioned by Chester Zoo, as a piece of interactive dinner theatre to raise awareness about sustainable palm oil. We created a tabletop role-playing game pitting each table against each other as plantation owners in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

I created, wrote and designed this with Tassos Stevens.

This was presented at Chester Zoo and the Lowry Centre, Salford, in 2015.

New Scientist wrote about the project here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075047-gaming-theatre-could-spark-a-playful-interest-in-science/

Ever wondered what it would be like to be an amoeba?

Sure you have.

Now's your chance to find out. Finally.

It's Congamoeba: the world's first and only amoebic friendship simulator.

Meet a fellow amoeba. Chat. Get them to join your conga line.

Think amoeba. Think conga. Think Congamoeba.

Made by me, Gavin Dylan Jones, Nick Jacops and Kev Adsett for Ludum Dare 38.

Play it here: https://nk.itch.io/congamoeba-the-amoebic-friendship-simulator

You wake in a dark room in the deepest depths of a dungeon.

It’s dark…

You must have committed some grave sin but that’s behind you now. All you have is this flickering torch. You need to get out of here.

What is that sound? That is not the sound of any mortal man! The eyes… the horrible, horrible eyes… They are drawn to the light. They will come for you.

Get out, if you can…

The Unseen is a short horror game created for Ludum Dare 39 with Kev Adsett and Gavin Dylan Jones. I did the writing.

You can download it for free here: https://nk.itch.io/the-unseen

You are Loki the sheepdog, herding disobedient, ungrateful sheep to higher ground - to keep them safe from an encroaching tide. Can you save them all?*

Created for Global Game Jam 2017 in Brighton, UK!

Play it here: https://nk.itch.io/the-shepherd-and-the-sea

Team
William Drew - Writer
Kev Adsett - Producer & Programmer
Anna Hollinrake - Artist & Stretch Co-Ordinator
Oliver Ryan - Artist & Diet Coke Supplier
Jack Hamilton - Artist & UI
Le-Roy Karunaratne - ProgrammaaaAAAAAH
Gavin Jones - Programmer & Design Sage
Emil Larsson - Musician & Spiritual Guide

*No. No you can't.

Wayland, a mythical craftsman, challenges you to uncover a city transformed by imagination. Once a visionary smith sought by gods and kings alike, he now invites you on a journey of cryptic clues. On your adventure, you'll uncover a legacy of ice empires, floating literature and frozen fiery cream. Solve his final challenge, and he might have something for you.

I was lead writer and lead designer on this real world game for HiddenCity. Launched in 2016.

You can still play it here: https://www.inthehiddencity.com/london/mind-of-the-maker

An experience inspired by the world of Sherlock Holmes.
Professor James Moriarty invites you on a journey through the criminal underworld. Solve a trail of clues, sent to your phone, as you attempt to seek out his safehouse. Succeed and he'll present you with an offer you won't refuse... 

I was co-writer on this real world game from HiddenCity, released in 2015.

You can still play it here: https://www.inthehiddencity.com/london/moriartys-game

The Hunt for the Yellow Banana was a week-long game designed with Andrea Hasselager that took place on the streets of Malé (Maldives) and online. The ultimate aim was to save the banana, who entered a deep existential crisis, from ending its existence.

The work was created as part of the Maldives Exodus Caravan Project, presented at the Museum of Everything’s Pavilion as a Venice Biennale’s Collateral Event in 2013.

The game was featured in the Danish National Press, Danish Public Radio and in Kill Screen.

The Eschaton was inspired by the game described in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. It was first play-tested at the Battersea Arts Centre with Coney and then presented at festivals such as Playpublik in Berlin and igFest in Bristol.

Here’s a video of the first play-test: https://vimeo.com/39562023