Michael Kurt Narrative Design Portfolio

 

Michael Kurt is a writer from Portland, Oregon. In addition to designing interactive fiction games, Michael also writes comics and short fiction. Recent non-game writing works include: July 2022 (Short horror fiction), Halloween (8-page mini comic with Lane Lloyd and Nikki Powers), and Sinkhole (12-page mini comic with Dee Noonan).

Michael is also the co-editor of Berm, an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship award winning contemporary arts magazine based in Portland, Oregon.

CV Quicklook

  • Michael is a PMP certified project manager with experience working for a small Ruby on Rails development studio.

    For Planet Argon, Michael is responsible for:

    Requirements gathering and project scoping, Budget analysis and management, Resource forecasting, Sprint planning, Client meetings, Agile Estimating, Requirements gathering and project scoping, Budget analysis and management, Resource forecasting, Sprint planning, Client meetings, Agile Estimating

    Skills: Production Management · Office Equipment · Agile Methodologies · Jira · Sprint Planning · Planning Budgeting & Forecasting · Project Management

  • Michael has worked as an Operations manager at the Intel technology facility in Oregon. His workload included:

    Workload efficiently planning, Ticket analysis, Budget analysis and KPIs, Contract Change Requests, Innovation Planning and program pilots, Workload efficiently planning, Ticket analysis, Budget analysis and KPIs, Contract Change Requests, Innovation Planning and program pilots

    Skills: Production Management · Office Equipment · Budget Management · Prioritize Workload · Innovation Management · Maximo

  • Berm Issue 003, Ephemeral - 2023 - 100-issue limited run

    Memory - 2023 - Self-published work of interactive fiction
    Berm Issue 002, Letters & Figures - 2022 - 100-issue limited run
    Halloween - 2022 - self-published comic
    Berm Issue 001, Transitions - 2022 - 100-issue limited run
    Sinkhole - 2022 - Self-published comic
    Heaviness Leaves The Body - 2020 - Self-published printed chapbook of fiction
    Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! - 2019 - Self-published work of interactive fiction

Interactive Fiction Samples

Memory

Interactive fiction game built in Inky.

You arrive on a planet that you don't really recognize. Your ship has taken you there many times. Maybe it's malfunctioning.

This is a piece of interactive fiction. It's around 5k words for the entire story and all its branches. It is best played on Desktop - some of the options are hard to reach on mobile, I am working on a fix for this.

Memory was a game that I made in order to learn Inky after making a few games in Twine. It was a fantastic experience in an editor that I think is intuitive and really versatile for creating story quickly.

Script sample - Comic - Danny and rose

DANNY AND ROSE is a one-shot comic script (24 pages), written in comic script formatting (similar to a screenplay). One night, after leaving a party, Danny finds himself suddenly with the opportunity to leave town with someone he barely knows - Rose - and he takes it. Oh yeah, there’s also a duffel bag full of money and a mysterious figure following them. But mostly it’s about that instant connection that only happens a few times in your life.

-> Read the script for Danny and Rose here.

Prizes! prizes! prizes!

interactive fiction written in Twine for PIG squad summer slow jam in 2019.

Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! is the story of two friends trying to navigate life and get to the arcade. Through multiple pathways and endings, Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! explores young friendship, loneliness, and family life.

The approximate play through of one story line is 40-60 min. If you play all pathways, this may extend by 30 min.  

This game was made during Summer Slow Jams 2019 by Michael Kurt. The theme was Arcade: Occult Classics. All writing, images, and design was done by Michael Kurt

Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! was my first Twine game! It was fun to get really into this project during the Portland Indie Gaming Squad’s Summer Slow Jam in 2019. I learned Twine, and how to tell interactive choice-based stories making this game.