Hello, I'm Dan Lance
Game Writer
About Dan
AboutI have done narrative work for games since about 2013. Previously I was a Senior Content Developer at an ed-tech company for almost 8 years where I built multimedia lessons that included elements of narrative design, branching and linear dialogue writing, and instructional design.Most of my game projects are narrative-driven adventures, focused on dialogue and worldbuilding rather than pure gameplay. I've created open-world tiny games, hypertext cyberthrillers, linear Dadaist/Fluxus mysteries, holiday-themed comedy rap games, and small games that explore caretaker stress and autistic overstimulation.
Highlights* Published over 20 small games on a major indie games platform.* Scheduled projects while laying out tasks and milestones, including managing scope while retaining project vision.* Wrote dialogue and story sequences for interactive storytelling.* Plan and research projects, visual direction, and narratives using documentation software.
| Tools | Skills |
|---|---|
| Unity | Creative Writing |
| Godot | Instructional Writing |
| GameMaker | Interactive Storytelling |
| Twine | Narrative Design |
| Ink\Inkle | Storyboarding |
| Notion | Screenwriting |
| MS Office | Copy Editing |
| Google Suite | Worldbuilding |
| Miro | Dialogue |
| Bitsy |
Writing Samples
Dialogue & Scripts
GHOST HELPER Intro dialogue for 'Culture Exchange'
The following is an excerpt from an early quest the player character receives from one of the NPC ghosts. The quest is one of several ‘conversational quests’ in the game and involves talking to a ghost about movies. This dialogue is the start of the quest.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
GHOST HELPER Character dialogue for 'Secret Quest'
A script for character dialogue for a secret quest that is triggered by having two specific quests active simultaneously and interacting with the NPC quest givers.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
DATA THEFT Memory Implant Scene
Data Theft (working title) is a potential science fiction action game that mixes Shaw Brothers wuxia with the styling of films such as Total Recall. A thief, Sarah Fabre, undergoes an extensive memory implant in order to defend herself from the hordes of villains sent to kill her by the corporate executives she stole from. Throughout the game, players must choose between maintaining Sarah's own memories or sacrificing them for muscle memory and combat prowess.The following excerpt is early in the game when Sarah undergoes the memory implant in the back of her longtime friend's pawn shop.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
I'M BORED, LET'S EXPLORE (MALL) Interactions Script
The I’m Bored, Let’s Explore series began as a jam game about friends exploring a dead mall and reflecting on their past within it. It has since expanded to a dungeon crawler starring a pair of siblings and a game about a couple spending one last evening at a park where they had their first date…and complaining about the whole thing.The following is an excerpt from I'm Bored, Let's Explore (Mall). The story follows two unnamed friends as they explore the ruins of their childhood mall and contemplate the reality of the structure versus their nostalgic memories of what it was.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
BRAINCASE Memory 0816
Braincase is a sci-fi interactive fiction game about a whistleblower searching for evidence of corruption via the memory implant of a victim of police violence. The game is a commentary on surveillance and how police often try to dehumanize their victims by reducing them to their perceived ‘crimes.’ The game consists of viewing the recorded memories of Corey Rowe, a disabled army vet. The game explores who they were as a person contrasted with how the police force wants to portray them. This was made for the 2020 Spring Thing IF competition.The following is an excerpt from the game. As it's a Twine game the excerpt presented is extracted straight from the game.
LINK TO DOCUMENT-----------------------
Misc. Scripts
Writing sample scripts.
The DecisionBack & ForthDiscovery
Lore & Descriptions
MISC. ITEM DESCRIPTIONS
Item Descriptions for various items across different genres.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________Swords in 20 words or less. A writing challenge combined with the 'Swordtember' annual art challenge.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
SPEC WRITING EXERCISE
An exercise I made for practicing writing within the specifications of a pre-existing IP.This is essentially fanfic worldbuilding and NOT affiliated in any way with any IP or license holders.I decided to choose Star Wars as I enjoy the series and had an idea for a stealth game within the universe. As there are few covert weapons within the current canon, I decided to design my own, based on the Welrod pistol.Along with the spec piece, I created a version with all IP references removed. Instead, the design is made to fit a generic sci-fi setting.
LINK TO DOCUMENT (Spec)
LINK TO DOCUMENT (Generic)
Quest Design
DUNGEON OF LIFE Hermit Path
In the post-apocalyptic action RPG Dungeon of Life, the player is a shield-wielding adventurer who sets out on a quest to find the titular dungeon. The location, an overgrown and long-forgotten botanical garden is the last hidden dungeon and the sole location of your prize: a beautiful rose for your significant other.This is one of three main paths to reach the dungeon.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
DUNGEON OF LIFE Shaman Path
In the post-apocalyptic action RPG Dungeon of Life, the player is a shield-wielding adventurer who sets out on a quest to find the titular dungeon. The location, an overgrown and long-forgotten botanical garden is the last hidden dungeon and the sole location of your prize: a beautiful rose for your significant other.This is one of three main paths to reach the dungeon.
LINK TO DOCUMENT____________________________
Long-Form
Sphinx Excerpts
Sphinx is a story I've been working on based on a game I played in a dream I had. In the dream, I stumbled upon the game after arriving at a curio shop that specialized in collecting and preserving rare, unreleased, and prototype games. The game was a sort of proto-Dark Souls by way of The Terminator on the Dreamcast.The story is about a jaded veteran knight that gets hired by a village to hunt and kill a monster called the Sphinx. Along the way, she discovers the history of the human-machine war and the consequences of it that still linger on both sides.It is still early in development, but here are a few excerpts.
Excerpt 1Excerpt 2____________________________
Games
Click the game's title to go to that game's page
A Twine-based IF game about surveillance and how police often try to dehumanize their victims by reducing them to their perceived ‘crimes.’ Players are a whistleblower who uncovers evidence of systemic corruption.
Some words about this game!
I'm Bored, Let's Explore Trilogy
I'm Bored, Let's Explore is a trilogy anthology about characters interacting with each other and their environments. These interactions are what drive each story. From friends wandering their childhood mall, siblings exploring ancient ruins, to a couple visiting a park that was special to them before it is bulldozed to build apartments.The highlight of this series is linear dialogue and barks. The second entry differs slightly from the rest as I tried to add combat encounters with randomized text.
A short comedy game about a horse demon battle-rapping an entire town a few days after Christmas. Eventually, one of the townspeople realizes they're in a game and uses this knowledge to defeat the demon and rebuild the world. Based on a gross misunderstanding of the Welsh tradition of Mari Lwyd.
A top-down, open-world action RPG made with Bitsy. Players are a shield-wielding adventurer searching for a botanical garden in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Features 3 main paths, an overworld map, a combat encounter, and multiple locations. I wanted to emulate the feel of RPGs like Fallout and A Link to the Past, so the dialogue is more bark-focused and short.
A short narrative game about an elderly couple driving out to see the ocean for one final time. The story is about caring for a loved one and the issues faced. The game is a loop of the Caretaker and their loved one repeating the same trip once a year. Players can occasionally stop to rest, which rewards them with story at the cost of life. Players must choose between exploring the story or finishing the game.
Hostile Interview is a non-serious game about answering awful or weird questions from an angry interviewer. I made this after realizing that people sometimes find it hard to take a step back and question themselves objectively.Essentially a bark generator. The game has an agitated CEO ask you endless, absurd interview questions. This game was part of a Fluxus developer collective's NY gallery show back in 2018.
A first-person Dadaist/Fluxus adventure game about a broken game, and the ai-generation tool that gained sentience and tried to fix it. I made this as a rejection of crunch culture and to see what would result from making a game with no plan. It was in a way like doing straight-ahead animation for the entire development process. Even my own interpretation of this game came after I finished development.This aimless process produced something strange and unique in its own right.
