During summer 2022, I studied in Berlin.  For a final assignment, each group was tasked with creating a locative media piece based in Berlin.  Our group's prompt was "water".  Our instructor pushed us to see the prompt as a jumping-off point rather than something to center our piece around.  During our research, we learned that there was a "Fairy Tale Fountain", Märchenbrunnen in German, in Volkspark Friedrichshain (the oldest park in Berlin).  The Brothers Grimm are buried in a local cemetery in Berlin, and we decided a spin on Hansel and Gretel based in Volkspark Friedrichshain would be interesting.
Through the process, I created the graphics and built the website from scratch.  My groupmates wrote the story, which has two players competing as the witch and the father.  During the game, each character is given hints to find their next location which holds the answer.  While the story nodes differ based on the character's motive, the final node is the same.  Whichever player finds their way to the witch's trap, where Hansel and Gretel are presumably stuck, gets to have the children.
Originally, we chose to focus on keeping the aesthetic very similar to a classic fairy tale.  We saw a virtual storybook, swooping trees, a classic cottage, and a "once upon a time" intro to complete the project.  Somewhere along the way, the 80s came into play.  Several teammates were huge Stranger Things fans, and the 1980s was an undeniably iconic time in Berlin.  It was decided that the story set the physical characters in the 1980s and they would be "swept" into another world by flipping a coin into the fountain, thus becoming either the father or the witch. 
Through the graphics, I attempted to marry these two concepts.  As seen on the left the trees and the sky speak to the fairy tale "underworld" that was described in the introduction.  Behind the text, one can see buildings filled with graffiti which is still heavily present in Berlin today.  It is important to note that the division that was once a reality in Berlin can still be seen today. The architecture differs, pieces of the wall still stand, and the traffic lights are still different.  Volkspark Friedrichshain is located in East Berlin, which was once occupied by the Soviet Union.  On the bottom, a Trabant is shown.  This is the only vehicle that was available to purchase in the former GDR.  They were incredibly expensive, poorly made, and hard to maintain.  These vehicles were a sign of affluence and families valued them as much as their own children.  This detail is often overlooked by people, but I thought it added depth to the story and anchored it in the physical location in which it was set.
​We had two weeks to put this project together.  I attempted to create an interface that married the two very different themes, and I hoped to give the user a sense of their character’s emotions.  Most notably, there is not a map in this game.  Each player receives hints, and they must locate the answer by wandering through the park.  This decision was used to emulate the panic and disarray a parent experiences when they lose their children.  Our instructor noted that this choice was not as well supported in the witch's case.  After all, she set the trap, knows where she is going and is simply collecting items to enhance her meal.  With more time and future iterations, I would like to explore how to bring the witch's calmness to the interface.  This project allowed me to stretch my boundaries and created many learning opportunities.  I will be the first to admit that not every choice works, but I am incredibly thankful for the challenge it presented.