Portrait by Hien Pham
My name is Ruqiyah [ruh-key-yah]
I'm an award-winning game developer in Australia1
I like making games about messy relationships & death2
1 On Ngunnawal country in Canberra, specifically, where I am a co-organiser of the Canberra Game Developer Community
2 and also silly games
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Games I made
Amarantus
Amarantus is a multi-award-winning visual novel about trainwrecks, trysts & treason.I directed, produced, wrote and programmed Amarantus, plus handled marketing, the background art and some of the sound design.
if not us
if not us is an interactive fiction anthology following five heroes at the end of a quest to save the world.five stories, five alternate timelines, five final survivors, in a meditation on grief and duty and debt.I wrote it.
first date/can't relate
first date/can't relate is a award-nominated mini rom-com visual novel. Nine first dates around Canberra, Australia, endless opportunities for disaster, and a gentle tribute to unconditional love and patient, playful romance.I wrote and programmed and other things but not art or music'd it.
Academic pursuits (as opposed to regular pursuits)
Academic Pursuits is a parser-based interactive fiction game about moving into a new office.You can't leave til every box is unpacked, and there's an awful lot to unpack here, including emotional baggage, academic misconduct, and a blood feud spanning centuries.I wrote it.
My Lil Fanfic
My Lil Fanfic is a terrible erotic/self-insert fanfiction writing simulator.It's the early noughties, you're on fanfiction dot net, and it is time to boot up Notepad and smash out some truly terrible fanfiction for an eager and adoring public.I did writing & narrative design on it.
And you be happy there
And you be happy there is a point and click adventure made in 48 hours for Global Game Jam 2021.Explore an alien planet, meet the locals. This is a present from a small distant world.I wrote and programmed it.
There are also more little games on my itch.io page.
Awards & Recognition
| 2024 | Freeplay Independent Games Festival Awards | Narrative nominee for Amarantus |
| 2023 | Melbourne Queer Games Festival | Amarantus shortlisted |
| Eurogamer | Amarantus named as one of the top 50 games of 2023 | |
| video games are good | Game of the Year nominee for Amarantus | |
| Australian Game Developer Awards | Excellence in Narrative winner for Amarantus | |
| New Zealand Games Festival | The Guest Plate winner for Amarantus | |
| Social media | My friend Gary and I released an Amarantus April Fools announcement that people liked | |
| 2021 | Screen Canberra | Recipient of the ACT Screen Arts Fund to develop Amarantus |
| 2020 | Game Dev Heroes | Writing + Narrative Hero shortlist |
| Freeplay Awards | Excellence in Narrative shortlist for first date/can't relate | |
| Melbourne Queer Games Festival | first date/can't relate shortlisted | |
| 2019 | New Zealand Games Festival | The Guest Plate finalist for My Lil Fanfic |
| 2018 | Nebula Awards Suggested Reading List | if not us listed |
| Freeplay Awards | Best Micro-Game finalist for My Lil Fanfic |
Talks
Teaching players how to play your visual novel
Visual;Conference 2020
It’s easy to assume players know exactly how to play a visual novel, but if we take a step back, there’s a lot of important things we need a player to know before they begin – "how should I make choices?”,“what impact will my choices have on the narrative?”, and “am I meant to get every ending?”.
Writing for skip-reading
Visual;Conference 2019
How does the skip-read function change the nature of a visual novel? How can we write so that the player’s experience can be preserved, even when they’re skipping through a game?