A visual archive of the design, prototyping, storytelling, AI-assisted development, and production process behind Jester’s Gambit.
◆ The Project
Jester’s Gambit is a phygital horror board game set inside a cursed carnival. It combines physical gameplay with digital storytelling, exploring how a traditional board game can be expanded through NFC interactions, wireless controllers, visual feedback, sound, and narrative-based decision making.
Five strangers wake inside the Carnival of Baal. The only way out is one sealed door, and to open it, they may have to betray one another. Every object they touch moves a fully-voiced story forward, and every choice follows them into a personal ending.
◆ The Backbone
From a cursed-carnival concept to a working exhibition installation, in eleven stages.
◆ Final Reflection
I set out to bridge the gap between traditional board games and digital experiences. The process showed me that the work was never only a final product. It was research, storytelling, system design, visual design, AI-assisted iteration, physical prototyping, and testing, all pulling toward one immersive night at the table.
Looking ahead, I built the system to scale down as much as up. The same model (real objects, a single laptop, and a voiced, branching story) could connect players and small creators at far lower cost, making immersive phygital play something more people can build, host, and share themselves.
“Every door I close is a door I open again.”
◆ Tools & Acknowledgments
The design, art direction, writing, characters, logo, cards, poster, and layout are my own. These are the tools and supports I used along the way, and where I leaned on them.
Built by me, with support from Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor at the points where I got stuck.
Iterations for the room tiles and board background with Gemini (Nano Banana Pro) and ChatGPT Pro, then refined by hand in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate.
Trophies and props generated and modelled with Tripo and Meshy, then cleaned up and prepared for printing.
Professional voice acting with BiberSA Prodüksiyon, additional voice with ElevenLabs, and lip-sync and compositing in HeyGen.