Finalist 2020

Wayward Strand

Ghost Pattern

A heartfelt interactive story, told in a unique and curious way

Wayward Strand is a heartfelt interactive story, told in a unique and curious way. Play as Casey Beaumaris – intrepid teenage journalist – as she visits an airborne hospital for the first time. Uncover the airship’s mysteries, and explore the lives of its inhabitants.

Design Excellence

Wayward Strand’s release is widely-anticipated; due to its unique mechanics, characters and setting, and beautiful art style, a demo has been selected for showcases in Victoria and around the world – at PAX Australia, Day of the Devs in San Francisco, and Playtopia in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as for several world-wide, online events in 2020.

Design Impact

With Wayward Strand we are pioneering interactive media that explores the lives and stories of older people – and not as passive fonts of wisdom and history that other characters might visit or use, but as active protagonists of their own stories, who have important things going on in their lives right now.

Design Transformation

In our development of Wayward Strand, we are part of a global movement that is transforming the popular conception of videogames – away from adolescent power fantasies, and towards telling complex, personal stories, starring nuanced characters; stories which the player takes a part in, but doesn’t necessarily control the outcome of.

Design Innovation

Wayward Strand is a storytelling videogame that takes inspiration from interactive theatre – it has no fail states, and is populated with a diverse cast of characters that act out their own stories on their own timelines, independent of the player\’s actions.

Digital Design 2020 Finalists

Map-o-Matic

Physical designer: Anita Gigi Budai / Fabricator: Onset Arts / Client: State Library of Victoria

HYDAC VR Training (HVRT)

HYDAC Pty. Ltd. / Deakin Motion Lab, Deakin University

Ngarandi

Isobar Australia / Cox Inall Ridgeway / Dentsu Aegis Network

CareMonger

Isobar

Auslan Anywhere

Today / Expression Australia (supported by the Telstra Foundation’s Tech4Good challenge)

[ i miss your touch ] – Staying connected during COVID and beyond

PluginHUMAN / Dr Betty Sargeant / Justin Dwyer / Thanks to the Exertion Games Lab at Monash University, Australia

SleepWellBaby – Sleep and Settling app

SleepFit Solutions Pty Ltd / Tresillian Family Care Centres

siteLab®

Aurecon