EXHIBITION STATEMENT

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever read or watched Harry Potter and wondered what you would do if you were in his situation? Then ‘Triwizard Tournament’ is the computer game for you! In this unique choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) game, players are swept away in the visuals and narrative of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In the game, players are drawn from the goblet instead of Harry, and get to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Players are able to take a break from reality and escape to the Wizarding World. This game combines youth culture with entertainment and therapeutic immersion to answer the question of if video games can help with mental illness. With universal interest in the Harry Potter franchise, it serves a large audience and intends to benefit players’ mental health. 

LITERATURE REVIEW

Harry Potter is a novel and film franchise about a young wizard grappling with becoming a stronger magic-wielder while battling an evil wizard who wants him dead. The illustrated copy of the fourth installment, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling), featuring artwork by Jim Kay served as much of the inspiration and influence for the illustrations as well as the writing by J.K. Rowling serving as the footprint of the game.

As for the subject of my studies, I analyzed how Harry Potter represents its fans, depicting characters that don’t quite fit in. This creates an elevated level of attachment and nostalgia. Writing characters canon-adjacent is imperative as the characters that occupy the wizarding world sympathize with the awkwardness and embarrassment of our lives, and encourage listeners to build the courage to pursue (Radigan). 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION & SIGNIFICANCE

Within the gameplay, fans are given a personal and accessible experience of the Wizarding World through the use of Twine. The resulting text-based game- akin to CYOA novels popularized in the 80s- simulates a canon divergence from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The game will include character interaction opportunities to create more of a narrative experience as well as visual graphics. The purpose of ‘Triwizard Tournament’ is to not only entertain players but also act as a form of escapism for those to immerse themselves into the wizarding world and their nostalgia for the franchise. 

METHODS  

Video games are proven to be a facilitator of the arts and happily merges computer science with visual, auditory, and narrative art in a way that appeals to a younger audience (Gillespie). CYOA games in particular allow for more free will within storytelling. The method was to create a timeline of the novel and movie, highlight the most important scenes and moments, rewrite them for each path within a tree diagram to better sort the potential outcomes for players, then add them to Twine while illustrating each pinnacle scene. 

AUDIENCE & IMPACT

The game’s general audience is fellow Harry Potter fans and those familiar with the lore. The general objective is to draw on existing nostalgia, achieved within a different platform than Harry Potter content is typically offered. The game also makes an effort to world-build so that unfamiliar players enjoy the gameplay as well. The world-building created through script-writing and visual aspects plays into my dream of working in amusement parks, while the graphic aspect heavily roots itself in the explorative opportunities of digital art I have taken within the Arts Scholars program.

REFERENCES

Gillespie, Nick. “Are Video Games Art?” Reason, 2014, https://reason.com/. 

​​Newell, Mike, director. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Warner Bros, 2005. 

Radigan, Winifred M. “Connecting the Generations: Memory, Magic, and Harry Potter.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 44, no. 8, May 2001, p. 694. 

Rowling, J. K., and Jim Kay. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Illustrated. Scholastic Inc., 2019. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Harold Burgess, my academic advisor for my capstone, for guiding my project’s development and helping me grow within my capstone. I would also like to thank my game testers for taking the time to play my game throughout its developmental stages and checking for errors so that the game could continue to develop.