Moominpol

Paul Kessel

game & level designer

I'm Paul, a game & level designer based in France. Here is my CV.I'm currently working at Don't Nod as a freelance game and level designer on an unnanounced project.Below are some of the projects I've worked on. Most of my non-commercial games are available on my Itch.io page.

Unannounced Don't Nod Game

Along the Rift

The vertical slice of a narrative adventure game about a kid lost in a rift

Trogloxène

Learn to fly as a bat, and wander at your own pace

Paper Tale

A golem made of paper save its town from the flood

Alternative controllers

A selection of some of the alternative controllers I made

Along the Rift

Along the rift is my end-of-studies game, and I worked on it within a team of 11 other students.Julia Clément and I were the two game designers of the project, I did some narrative design but I mainly focused on system and level design.

It's a narrative adventure game, where you play as a young girl that felt in a rift, seeking help from her parents by following their advices to get out.In this coming of age story, our main character will have to face her rich imagination, wich can amplify her reality but also help her face her most frightening fears.

We only worked on a vertical slice, rather than on the entire game.
You can see here the timeline of the game and of the vertical slice, alongside a document explaining our stress system, wich allow us to change dramatically the feel of the game based on how our main character is feeling at any given time.

Here is a mockup for the dialogue interaction I designed, wich allowed to spatially place the possible answer in the environment, and to try out a seamless and meaningful UI that blend with the rest of the experience.

We regularly showcased our work to teachers and professional of various studios, to get their feedbacks.Once the game was released, we managed to show it the Montreal's Nuit Blanche Festival, to Paris' Des Livres et Moi, and to New York's Animation First festival.

Trogloxène

Trogloxène is a game I made within a team of three, alongside Dorian Fillâtre for the visuals, and Grégoire Monesma for the sound design.I was the designer but also the programmer on this project, I spent a lot of time creating the character's procedual animations, and took care of the UI.

It is a game about learning to fly as a bat, in a complex underground environment.
The player can wander they want, there is not a main path to follow, and at first there is no defined objective. There are many places to discover, and the only real challenge is to learn to fly with the bat.
Here are some in game screenshots.

You can control each wing of the bat individually, wich allows for a wide range of movements.

I wanted the game's UI to be minimalist, but to fit with the art created by Dorian for the game.The dots that appear at the bottom of the screen when the bat lift off indicates how many wings strokes are available.
The little half circle jumping from dot to dot indicates wich wing to stroke next, to get a velocity bonus.
The gauges at the right and left corner fill up when the player hold down a wing button. If they release this button when the gauge is at its maximum, they'll go farther.You can also see the menu UI, wich uses the same input as the wing system, and was made to fit the narrative of the game (with the bat looking at her papers from her bag)

It all started with a prototype I made for a design class at ENJMIN.
Then, we decided with Dorian and Grégoire to pursue it during our summer.
The prototype I made alone looked like this

Since the game takes place in a vast and complex environnement, I created a 3D map for my team, A 2D one was not working.
Each room are there, with a short description wich explains were its doors leads, how hidden they are, and how the camera will work in this place.
It was made to be printed and displayed in a A0 format, but here are some extract of the document.

Paper Tale

Paper Tale was a game I made during my first year at ENJMIN.It is an ambient game, where you play as a paper golem, saving its city from the flood.

I worked as the game designer of the team, and I focused on the system and level design.
I especially enjoyed setting up the multiple cameras in the game, wich make for a very smooth experience.Here are some example of the 2D maps, the greyboxing, and the design documents I made for my team.

More infos on the game, along with more in game screenshot, a trailer and the game itself, are available on its itch.io page here:

Alternative Controllers

A selection of some of the alternative controllers I made along the years, alone or within teams. Most were made when I was in art school, as a way to experiment new way of interacting and presenting my games to an art-oriented audience.

BzzBzz

Control a fly using a customised Theremin, by moving your hand in the air without touching anything.
The game also offers the possibility to use an eye tracker, or buttons, in a modular way, so that the experience is as accessible as possible.

✨

Connect the stars with the shadow of your hand to form constellations, while avoiding black holes. Once a constellation is formed, a voice tells the players its story.Two version of this game exist: the first, ✨, is about fictional constellations, while the second one, Histoires d'un ciel was made for a french space museum, and teaches players about real constellation.

09Cameras

Using your numeric keypad, or the big 3D printed controller, discover a mysterious space station through its cameras.
Each camera has a different gameplay, and uses differently the numeric pad. Players must learn progressively the commands of each of them, at their own pace.
A printable diegetic instruction manual is available to assist.
The game was exhibited during the 2019 edition of the Indiecade europe, at the BNF.

Kärl

A very demanding robot. If left alone, it will start to yell in the exhibition space. In order not to disturb the visitors, you have to rock it gently, or give it cuddles.
Kärl was created for the 26th edition of Eniarof, with a team composed of another artist and two programmers.

Friendships

A game designed to be played with a kite-like controller.
To control the ship, you have to pull the two ropes. Colorful shapes will appear and grow. If the ship touches their center they'll explode. It is up to the player to decide to destroy them, or to preserve them.

362 893

Control a broken spaceship.
To reach the moon, you have to connect the power to the thruster, but be aware that at full power, the speed of this very powerful ship will kill you instantly…
Play by connecting and disconnecting a custom plug & socket controller.

CV