Fairside Combat is a turn-based squad combat game where empathy is your superpower. It's part of the larger product Fairside Stories, a library of narrative games for kids 7-12 created under my design leadership. There are three distinct game styles - strategy, visual novel and Fairside Combat. The game style was reskinned to create different narratives.

Set in the fictional world of Fairside, players use conflict resolution strategies to overcome challenges. Their characters have a squad with unique abilities, each representing different behaviors and having some very atypical combat moves - like “Listen,” “Pay Attention,” “Tell a Joke” and “Flatter.” The aim of the game is to win over the enemy before your Willpower (HP) runs out, using Empathy (mana) to power your moves.

Game Mechanics:

• Turn-based Combat: Combat consists of action-reaction dialog pairs alongside the mechanical impact, which really drive the emotional beats of the game. It’s asymmetrical combat - the enemy has no squad and different moves

• Squad Mechanics: The players toggle between The Monk, The Knight, The Friend, and The Rogue, each loosely based on classic class archetypes (Monk, Paladin, Cleric, Rogue) but simplified to some core behaviors

• Dynamic Encounters: Enemies have variable strengths and weaknesses on each replay, requiring players to adapt their strategies, mirroring the complexity of real-world conflict

As Head of Design, Game Director, Narrative Director, Creator, call it what you will, I led this game’s development from start to finish.

• Game Designer: From a paper prototype in 2020 to the GDD to the final game, I oversaw the game's design, ensuring that the core mechanics encourage empathy and understanding. I’ll dig up and share a video of the earliest prototype (dubbed “Kill ‘em With Kindness”).

• Narrative Designer: I crafted the game's unique spin on combat, its systems, and oversaw its development. I am most proud of the imagining of Empathy and Willpower as finite resources - I feel like this adds an altogether realistic layer to the game.

• World Designer: The world of Fairside and its IP were evolved under my direction (more here).

• Co-Designer with Players: One of the coolest parts of the development was a month-long immersive co-design experience with 550 kids in Dubai! These kids and their ideas directly influenced game scenarios, including the creation of the character Alberton (with the chicken strips), a character who bullies the poor teacher, Mr. Larry. I loved the perspective this particular narrative gets players to adopt - empathizing with the adult.

I’m extremely proud of this game. I don’t think I’ve ever played anything like it. I find it not just emotionally reflective, but also ridiculously fun and entertaining. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on it.

Fairside Stories 101: All of the Fairside games feature the same IP & underlying character framework, which get kids to explore kindness, integrity, and resilience. More about the parent app Fairside Stories and my work on it here here.

Fairside Stories was launched in 2021. The most popular game in it, Detention Disaster, was co-designed with kids and has more than 50,000 plays around the world. The game is currently on production hiatus because we ran out of money, but you can still download and play it on Android and iOS. I’d love to hear what you think