Leilani Kaiser | Open for Work!
Game Writer & Narrative Designer
About Me
Oh, hello there! My name is Leilani Kaiser, and I am a narrative designer that's been working in the industry for about 1.5 years.I am a former writer for Pixelberry Studios' Storyloom platform, where I created works of nonlinear interactive fiction ranging from romantic, to dramatic, to fantastic, and sometimes even a little spicy. Shoutout to my editor Isa, who always made sure my work was at its best!I have also written multiple Twine games, with my newest creation being Enter the Moon. You can find that game and others like it here!When I'm not typing away at my computer, you can most likely find me playing video games, listening to new wave music, or crocheting anime-themed toys and figures.I'm always on the hunt for a new writing opportunity (I can be a lone wolf or a team player), so if you're interested in taking me on for a project, please feel free to contact me!Email: [email protected]
Storyloom Games
I developed and pitched the story concepts, developed the characters, and wrote all the dialogue, choices, and branching narrative elements for these games!
Just Like Other Girls was the first interactive narrative I wrote during my time with Storyloom. I hold it very near and dear to my heart, as it deals with many personal themes, such as judgement based on appearance and internalized misogyny.In the game, you play as Kira Ramsey, a college student who is, loudly and proudly, NOT like other girls. But when Melanie Conners joins her video game club at college, Kira’s views towards girly-girls get tested. Walls are let down, toxic societal cycles are broken, and a romance between two unlikely lovers blossoms before your eyes.
Fanfic Fiasco was my second interactive narrative with Storyloom, and a fun one to write at that! The whole concept revolved around romance/fanfiction cliches, so I really leaned into the cheese with the writing.In the game, you play as Talia Lambert, a girl who falls asleep in the woods and wakes up to find herself in a world that isn’t her own. Everyone is young, hot, and trying to flirt with her, and she must choose whether to stay or leave! This is the first story to feature branching narratives, with multiple endings depending on your choice of love interest (or no choice at all!)
Concerto in RPG-Minor was my third interactive narrative with Storyloom, and my most ambitious story to date! I'm incredibly proud to say that with my editor helping me clean up the formatting, I was able to create a basic turn-based battle system within the confines of a visual novel program!In the game, you play as Beck, an elven bard that has been requested to play at a royal wedding across the country. Throughout the game, she forms a party and defeats enemies hindering her journey, including an evil warlock threatening to take over the world! Though linear in plot, the battles could have multiple outcomes based on damage done and damage taken.
Iron MerMaiden was my fourth interactive narrative with Storyloom. The concept for the story actually dates back to a writing assignment from my senior year of college, in which I wrote a brief interaction between a tone-deaf mermaid and a young metalhead.In the game, you play as Angie, your run-of-the-mill mermaid, except for one crucial detail: she can’t sing! Her whole world changes when she meets a human metalhead named Mari who shows her a brand new style of music. This was also my first game to implement the number variable, a brand new feature to Storyloom at the time. With certain choices, the "love interest" variable would have a set amount of points added, culminating in multiple endings based on points accrued throughout the game.
Plumeria Blooms was my fifth and final interactive narrative with Storyloom, and possibly the most challenging story (content-wise) I've written thus far. It required that I tackle my final frontier of genre writing, a world that I had not yet dipped my toes into: steamy romance.In the game, you play as Plumeria Lee, a young woman whose life has been all work and no play. Everything gets turned upside-down when she meets a sexy, yet enigmatic man who offers her a well-paid job to live with him on his private island. Many hours were spent on rewrites of the first chapter to make sure it had a good hook, countless more on ensuring the scenes with "spice" were titillating. I'm very proud of this game and the way it pushed me out of my comfort zone.
Personal Projects
Enter the Moon is my first published foray into the horror genre. It's a text-based game that sends the player on a mission to explore the moon's interior, featuring a branching narrative and four different endings to discover. It's a love letter to cosmic horror, to the strange and unexplainable and the fear of the unknown.Though I've been familiar with Twine since college, Enter the Moon is the first game to really demonstrate my proficiency with the medium. Timed transitions, link reveals, and colored text build tension and unease as you inch closer to the inner core.You can play the game here!
Keystone Crusaders was my senior thesis at Ringling College of Art and Design, featuring 8 different endings and gory imagery due to the subject matter. It combines my love of marine biology and Twine to create a brutal, but all too realistic game about shark finning.You play as Alo, a young thresher shark who plots and enacts his revenge against the fishermen who killed his mother. The game's intensity ramps up towards the end, with link reveals to horrifying details and painted backgrounds which fill with blood depending on your choices. My main goal of this project was to put the player in the position of prey, and I believe I accomplished that with stomach-churning success.You can play the game here!