︎
  HOME                               

Geocache Comics 


2024

The following are a series of graphic narratives I produced to be digitally geocahed within a videogame that seeks to encourage children to engage with and look after trees. 

As part of the game development process workshops were conducted with primary school children to bring them into the design of videogame characters, gaming narrative and mechanics. To materialise their ideas children made masks to illustrate their characters, then wore them to embody their character designs and demonstrate the gaming narratives and mechanics they wanted in the school playground. 

The comics I created to be geocached built directly on the ideas they shared with me through these making processes. 

Bubble Gum Clouds

“There are clouds.
What will the clouds do in the game?
They will kind of just sit there because they are bubble gum clouds so they won’t really do much but they still look pretty.
These clouds will come out at night and there will be like a sunset every night.” (9-10-year-old)

Image: Mask made by a 9-10-year-old

Bob the Wood Monster & the Bird

“That’s Bob the Wood Monster.
What does Bob the Wood Monster do?
He throws mud.
Tell me about your main character.
He has wings and he can see in the dark.” (9-10-year-old)
Image: Mask and drawing by a 9-10-year-old

Laser Eyes



“He has laser beams that come from all the eyes. It lives in a creepy little black cave somewhere far away and every time someone goes in it he wakes up. It’s a horror game...The tree is actually a person who helps this evil character. When the person is playing the game they will hear spooky voices coming from the tree...in real life no one should cut the trees down because they help us live and survive.” (9-10-year-old)

Image: Mask and drawing by a 9-10-year-old

Deer

“There is a path with monsters on it.
What do I have to do when I see the monster?
You have to hide from it. You have to get past the monsters and to the end of the path.” (9-10-year-old)
Image: Mask by a 9-10-year-old

Radioactive Cat


From memory of talking to child the character is based on the idea of environmental damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. In her version of the story the nature that has been made radioactive by waste water being returned to the sea, rises up and fights back against the humans that caused the problem.

“Radiation. They could use a forcefield to back him away.” (9-10-year-old)

Image: Mask and drawing by a 9-10-year-old

Biscuit & Squirrel



“This is Biscuit and he’s got powers that are really quick and he can stand up on his hind legs and build barriers. There are squirrels that he has got to try and steal the hazelnut from.

This is a drawing of Biscuit’s house. It’s only small but Biscuit really likes his home. He has a flat landscape but where the squirrel lives there is a really tall tree.” (9-10-year-old)
From another child:

“[The main character] is Gordon. There is a tree, that is my tree. I have a tree because I am a squirrel. I put mine in it [the cone] because I have super speed to climb up it [the tree]. That’s Biscuit [the dog see above] he’s got building powers.
So what is happening with the pine cone?
If he [Biscuit] grabs it all my powers vanish. He wants to put it in his safe [which is a tree house] but I am also after his bone.” (9-10-year-old)
Image: Masks and drawings bytwo 9-10-year-olds