I'm pretty sure she's a genius. Just wanted to post that here so she'd know it was recognized.
Reasons The Haunted Island is the work of a genius game developer
- The dialogue is sequenced together in a cinematic way to perfection. That doesn't just happen in a game. Even with lots of work, it doesn't just happen in a game. You have to not only program it, but have a vision for how each character is positioned. It is as much camera maneuvering as it is planning and coding the camera animations.
- The dialogue text is brilliant. Each character seems unique and has a personality. Each line is surprising.
- Grace's characters are a world specific to her. There is a goofy logic in her world and it's never been more on show than in The Haunted Island.
But the biggest reason I think this game is the work of a genius, from a game development perspective, is I can see how the vision for this creation was a carefully aimed shot at achieving something ambitious and great with the limited resources of an indie author.
It is something I think about all the time and it is never clear on what game to make, or who to involve, or if the scope is too large and you'll never finish, or if it's too small and the game ends up kind of small and lame, or if it is good enough to make money, or this, or that, and it goes on and on and on. What I'm trying to say is when you make indie games you got to realize who you are and what you have and you've got to aim at all of those targets at the same time and it's nearly impossible to get it right. Grace did it.
The game is genius and I hope it funds her making lots more games.