Hi, I'm Izzy Jones-McAuley.

Game Writer | Narrative Designer | Costume Designer

Weaving captivating narratives with the help of my background in theatre costume.

Portfolio & Writing Samples

Contact

If you are interested in working together, having a chat or if you have a question about my work, you can:
- email me
- catch me on Twitter
- or fill in the form here!

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Cinematic Dialogue

Cinematic Dialogue Scene

5-page sample cinematic script for two characters trapped in a room, who must use their strengths and weaknesses to escape.

Branching Dialogue

RPG Branching Dialogue Sample

Context:Blackberry hires the player character to help her track down her missing brother, Gimble who went missing. The quest leads them to a nearby cave, with all manner of mystical engravings and magical traps, where they find Gimble’s body.

The Final Testament of Signor Ernest Alfieri

An interactive Ink story emulating the style and tone of voice of Victorian early science fiction, with interactive branching dialogue.

Barks & Ambient Dialogue

Ambient Dialogue & VO - "Renegade Recruitment"

Featuring the voice acting talents of Varia Chernova and Adam Tyrrell

Ambient dialogue to be heard through a loudspeaker as the player moves through the game world. As the player joins with the rebellion, the rebels start to take control of the airwaves, using the transmissions to recruit new members and inspire the revolution!A light-hearted, comedic take on a dystopian future, where culture and entertainment are being suppressed by an oppressive regime of boredom. An underground rebel group of game makers are trying to overturn the cultural rationing and are recruiting new members to join their ranks!

Sample Barks

Samples of barks for a Medieval Fantasy RPG and a Wild West Shooter, for a variety of scenarios and characters.

Imitating & Emulating Voices

Trapped in a Lift

An exercise in capturing the tone and character of three existing game characters with very different personalities. What would Zagreus, Mordin Solus and Miles Edgeworth do if they were trapped together in a lift?

A study in Ink, emulating the voice of an old Irish fisherman. As the player catches fish in the fishing mini-game, the fisherman recounts stories from his youth. Each story contains advice (and a quest prompt) on how the player might hunt an elusive sea monster...

Lore & Worldbuilding

Lone Wolf Journals

A series of journal entries showing the inner monologue of a lone wolf character, as she returns to the wild.
I have the journal entries in the pdf below and have also included a video of the journals uploaded into Skyrim as game objects to show how they could look within a game world.

Planetary Descriptions - Mass Effect 2

Sample planet descriptions in the style of Mass Effect 2, showing how the text would appear in-game.

Item Descriptions

Sample weapon descriptions written in thirty minutes under tight parameters. Based on an exercise from a Twitter thread by @SixFeetZen.Exercise:
Write descriptions for 10 swords
(it can be 10 of anything, but 'swords' is for ease of explanation)The rules are as follows:
1. You get only 20 words for each description, no exceptions. Any name you give the sword is included in these 20 words. (Over-hyphenation is cheating! Imagine if someone has to localize your descriptions into a different language).2. You can't repeat/reuse descriptors. Words like 'blue' and 'scimitar' are descriptors. Works like 'the', 'of', etc. are not.3. Descriptions can't start with the same word, no matter what the word is. This is to prevent patterns like "the [color] [material] [weapon] is..."4. Timers stress me out, but if you work best under pressure, try doing the exercise in under 30 minutes.5. When finished, show your descriptions to someone you trust to evaluate your creative work. Ask which descriptions they like best and why.6. Hopefully - learn something.If this doesn't seem hard enough for you, add this additional rule for bonus points:
7. Before starting your descriptions, randomly assign a rarity to your swords from 1 to 5 stars. Gussy up or dress down your descriptions according to the rarity.

Skills Tree

Skills Tree for an ex-member of the IRA, who works in Tesco.Meet Ray, a hard-working, down-to-earth, ex-IRA bomber (alias: Ra-man Ray) currently working as a Customer Assistant in Tesco. Results-driven, Ra-man Ray doesn't mind bending a few rules to deliver top quality customer service to the greater Drogheda area. When he excels at his work, or smashes another workplace weekly challenge, Ray's boss rewards him, allowing him to take an item from the back room of clearance expired or damaged goods which give him a stat boost.
Ray's personal locker can only hold so many empty yoghurt tubs and coffee cups though, putting a cap on his personal growth until he can perform an unauthorised raid on the disused lockers of ex-employees, unlocking more space and room for stat growth.
Ray's also a bit of a maverick and has been eyeing the dubious, smuggled/illegal goods that his boss keeps locked away in his office. Wonder what those'll do! 👀

Documentation

My creative process

"As a game writer, my favourite parts of the process are:
analysing stories deeply, creating unique characters and embedding narrative within gameplay.”

Flowchart Story Outline - Stalk

Story planning using flowcharts and organised twine layout for Stalk, a twine game re-telling of Jack & the Beanstalk.

Forest Paths - Method for Narrative Design

Using the Forest Paths method to visually show the gameplay and pacing for two projects:
- The Sound of Music (reimagined as a music/stealth game)
- Portrayal (an Ace Attorney-style conversation simulator based in Regency London).

Hi - I'm Izzy

I'm a writer and narrative designer, costume designer and creative from Dublin.- Winner of Into Game IG50 2022 - the "top undiscovered talent in the UK game industry"
- graduate of Susan O'Connor's Game Writing Masterclass I & II with The Narrative Department.
- studied Narrative Design in Pulse CollegeI pride myself on my problem-solving skills, my organisation and my creative process.I'm currently completing an MSc in Design Thinking for Sustainability, and I graduated at the top of my year in BA (Hons) in Costume Design.With six years of experience in theatre costume, collaborative design and design thinking, I am skilled at working with large teams to realise a cohesive artistic vision. I'm extremely enthusiastic to create worlds, characters and immersive interactive experiences through writing.
If you're interested in my writing samples or have any questions please get in touch!