📖 PUBLICATION
AUTUMN 2022
"The sea's embrace was eternal." An original short fiction piece in Kaleidotrope, a quarterly e-zine of sci-fi, fantasy & horror. |
📓 KICKSTARTER
200% FUNDED!
A cryptozoology anthology bringing the Seldom Valley Cryptid Society and its research to life in both digital and print formats. Kickstarter campaign complete! |
📖 PUBLICATION
APRIL 2022
Interactive fiction made for the Twine Survival Guide game jam; republished in in Voidspace Zine. |
📖 PUBLICATION
JUNE 2021
Interactive fiction made for sub-Q's second game jam; this game is included in Issue #17 of Indiepocalypse. |
📖 CONSOLE GAME
JUNE 2023The fate of humanity is at stake. Use your gift of clairvoyance to see into the future and stop an apocalypse that threatens the balance between your world and the deities'. A narrative adventure game available now on PC and consoles. |
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Organizer of MytholoJam, with 4 jams, ~400 entrants, and 60+ games from Fall 2017 to Spring 2019 |
Organizer of Cryptid Jam, which drew over 450 entrants and more than 60 games in October 2019. It was a month-long game jam about cryptids, which are creatures "presumed [...] to exist on the basis of anecdotal or other evidence considered insufficient by mainstream science,"¹ with many entities being identified only in folklore, rumors, and urban legends. Some of the most well-known cryptids are Bigfoot, the chupacabra, and the Loch Ness monster. Others you may have heard of are the Jersey Devil and Mothman, but there are many, many others. |
JAM ENTRIES
I've also participated in a number of game jams: [ My First Game Jam ✦ Who Do You Think You Are? (Demo) ✦ January 2016 ] [ Correspondence Jam ✦ The Livid Emissary ✦ February 2016 ] [ Magic Realism Jam ✦ Like Blowing Out A Candle ✦ March 2016 ] [ Public Domain Jam 3 ✦ O, Attic Shape ✦ May 2016 ] [ International Love Ultimatum (ILU) 2 Jam & Fairytale Jam ✦ June 2016 Sweetwater (Demo) ✦ June 2016 ] [My First Game Jam Summer Edition ✦ ever/After ✦ July 2016 ] [ Fermi Paradox Jam ✦ 1181 with @notgojira ✦ September 2016 ] [ Bitsy Breakfast Jam ✦7AM ✦ May 2017 ] [ Grow Jam ✦ Horticouture (Please Be Seeded) ✦ June 2017 ] [ Bitsy Archaeology Jam ✦ Sôphrosunê ✦ April 2018 ] [ Bitsy Ocean Jam ✦ Deep Dweller ✦ June 2018 ] [ Bitsy Sublime Jam ✦ XVIII. ✦ August 2018 ] [ Gothic Novel Jam ✦ Only This ✦ August 2018 ] [ Ink Jam ✦ The Dead Don't Pay ✦ September 2018 ] [ EctoComp (Le Grand Guignol) ✦ Night of Nights ✦ October 2018 ] [ sub-Q Magazine Love Jam ✦ Unmaking, Unmade ✦ December 2018 ] [ Mech Bitsy Jam ✦ The Embrace ✦ February 2019 ] [ Emotional (Digital) Mecha Jam ✦ The Embrace ✦ February 2019 ] [ Bitsy Tooth Jam ✦ Root of Wisdom ✦ April 2019 ] [ Bitsy Bees Jam ✦ Misbeehavior ✦ May 2019 ] [ Divination Jam ✦ Augur & Haruspex ✦ May 2019 ] [ sub-Q Jam 2019 ✦ Habeas Corpus ✦ December 2019 ] [ Bitsy Egg Jam ✦ Hatchling ✦ January 2020 ] [ Bitsy Cursed Book Jam ✦ The End of Decay with Freya Campbell (@spdrcstl) ✦ June 2020 ] [ Twine Survival Guide Jam ✦ HARBINGER.html ✦ August 2021 ] ✦ Neo-Twiny Jam 2023 ✦ DreadXP End of Summer Bone Jam ✦ Inkjam 2023 ✦ LSD Jam 2023 ✦ Neo-Twiny Jam 2024 ✦ Ectocomp 2024 ✦ Neo-Twiny Jam 2025 ✦ 48-word RPG Jam 2026 ✦ Make Visual Novel Assets Jam 2026 ]
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INDIE
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I've self-published more than 25 free games and pieces of interactive fiction on itch.io since January 2016. Some projects are no longer downloadable, but their pages remain up as an archive of my work and game jam submissions. The majority of my games can be played within your browser of choice and/or downloaded to play without an internet connection.
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✎ CONDENSED CV (more information available upon request)
Scholarships
Amplifying New Voices 2025
The Game Awards Future Class 2023 Game Writing: Early Career Scholarship 2019
Awards
XYZZY Awards (2021)
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Publications
A Compendium of Lesser-Known Cryptids (Lanier et al.) (Forthcoming 2022)
Kaleidotrope, Autumn 2022 ("Vows Writ in Scrimshaw") Voidspace Zine Issue #2, April 2022 (HARBINGER.html) Indiepocalypse Issue #17, June 2021 (Habeas Corpus) Sub-Q Magazine, February 2019 (Unmaking, Unmade) L'Éphémère Review, Beyond the Shallows: The Fear (2018) - (Two Poems) L'Éphémère Review, Beyond the Shallows: The Reclamation (2018) - ("Hospitality") Freelance Experience & Clients
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Events & Exhibitions
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AdventureX (2022)
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I'm looking for part time or fulltime remote work in game writing and design. I am based in EST/GMT-5 and can provide a full resume and CV upon request; a condensed CV is available below. I'm a highly-flexible, multidisciplinary developer with a specific focus on narrative design, and I'm also open to editing, UI design, and quality assurance roles.
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Manipulate an eerie videotape and confront a dangerous infatuation by rewinding, fast-forwarding, and pausing the tape to alter its contents and reshape the fate of your love. Featuring small Bitsy scenes, audio, branching paths leading to two different endings, and LOVE, "raw and unfettered," in less than 1,000 words, as requested.
Originally submitted to sub-Q's Love Jam, UNMAKING, UNMADE was one of two entries awarded Judges' Choice and selected for publication in sub-Q Magazine. It appears in the February 2019 issue. UNMAKING, UNMADE was also exhibited at WordPlay 2019. 956 words • Interactive Fiction • Twine + Bitsy • sub-Q Magazine's Love Jam |
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EXCALIBUR
Welcome to the Excalibur Wiki.
This hypertext simulation of a fan-run encyclopedia preserves the details of an obscure television series from the 1970s. The psychedelic science-fantasy series Excalibur was wiped by the BBC, but it lives on in the memories of its fans.
A collaboration with J.J. Guest and Duncan Bowsman. |
Cosmic horror inspired by the Fermi Paradox, Isaiah 34:14, and asteroid #1181. (PLAY)
~ 6,666 words • collaboration with @notgojira • Twine • Fermi Paradox Jam • 2016 |
STYLESHEETS & DESIGN
I create custom stylesheets (CSS), artwork, and design elements for my own work as well as clients' projects.
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(2019) Independent: writer, developer, UI designer, artist I wrote, designed, illustrated, and programmed Heretic's Hope in 2019. I created bespoke UI assets, painted character portraits, manipulated a set of images in the public domain (including assets from Open Game Art and artwork by Gustave Doré), and combined all assets using CSS and HTML in order to build a wholly customized and unique interface entirely within Twine. |
(2018/2020) Independent: writer, developer, UI designer, artist I wrote, designed, illustrated, and programmed DEVOTIONALIA in 2018. I used a combination of my own art and UI assets as well as images in the public domain (such as Victor Hugo's "La tour des rats") to create an immersive atmosphere spanning all of the game's screens and routes. In July 2020, I revisited DEVOTIONALIA and updated its artwork as well as several of its UI elements to improve them; the screenshots below reflect those changes. |
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VARIOUS PROJECTS 2018-2022 Screenshots below, in order, are from Unmaking, Unmade, Habeas Corpus, Eleutheria, and an in-progress experimental project created to familiarize myself with Twine's Chapbook format. These Twine projects were customized using CSS and HTML. All of the titles listed can be found and played at itch.io. |
GRAPHIC DESIGN 2018-present Promotional graphics, ads, posters, game UI for clients, and more. |
PDF & LAYOUT DESIGN 2019-present Design for downloadable projects including 3 Twine® Grimoire PDFs and an upcoming microfiction zine. |
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[...] it was the sense of being alone in the dark on the still silent water, with the sense of an unseen roof far above and unknowable things swimming deep beneath. Music, darkness, melancholy, the unknowably alien, and the space to absorb them. That’s the mood which Devotionalia is after, and it skewers it like a moth on a specimen-board. In a way, [Devotionalia] reminds me of the works of Chandler Groover and Phantom Williams. It has a similar rich aesthetic. A surreal, haunting feel. A sense that there’s more hidden below the surface. |
G.C. Baccaris closes out the issue with the fairy-tale flavored "Vows Writ in Scrimshaw," which centers royal siblings as different as night and day, as land and sea. For all their differences, though, they are close, connected, and the story follows as they grow, change, and begin to drift apart. But there are common waters running through them, and I appreciate the way Baccaris captures the bond between the siblings with care and skill. Starting off, I became high priest of a religion I didn’t believe in, and improvised a prayer to crowd of enormous insects. [...] I fist-fought a bee. I … enjoyed this game. A ton. [...] It’s one I could see myself playing again in the future, making different decisions, for the hell of it. Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you? — Last Pylon, reviewing Heretic's Hope
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"Sending to friends to help them stay up at night." "Well, I'm cursed now. Thanks a lot" "This is illegally good. You have definitely broken some laws to make this, and when I work out what those are I will be contacting the appropriate authorities. Good day." — assorted praise for The End of Decay
Compelling work of cosmic horror with Judeo-Christian overtones [...] The type is well-designed, and the overall effort feels polished, with a nice use of imagery and visuals. [...] Overall, I'd give this piece high marks for atmosphere and tension, particularly in the second act, when physical danger is introduced. — Streever at IFDB, reviewing 1181
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REVIEWS OF HERETIC'S HOPE
Heretic's Hope placed 5th out of 82 entries in the 25th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition.
XYZZY AWARDS (2019)
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In addition to the worldbuilding, it was a very well-written endeavor, and visually pleasing. The music was well-selected [...] I super enjoyed this game, and the technical polish was of a professional quality (as was the prose). It's one I could see myself playing again in the future, making different decisions, for the hell of it.
Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you?
Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you?
Last Pylon (full review) |
[I]t’s well-paced, consistently interesting, and takes place in an original setting. [...] It’s difficult to anticipate exactly how the conversation branches will affect the development of the plot, but there are definitely branch points in the story and meaningful choices to make.
There are also three different mentors from which the player can choose, encouraging replaying the game.The custom interface for the game is both beautifully designed and easy to use. The polished and professional writing is consistently strong throughout, conveying the utter alienness of the world and its inhabitants. 8/10
There are also three different mentors from which the player can choose, encouraging replaying the game.The custom interface for the game is both beautifully designed and easy to use. The polished and professional writing is consistently strong throughout, conveying the utter alienness of the world and its inhabitants. 8/10
IF Comprehensive (full review) |
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[I]t employs its weird fiction tropes in service of a story that felt fresh and unusual for the genre. [...] I found it a well-written story that felt emotionally real despite the fantastical aspects of the situation, and while I can generally take or leave graphics and sound/music in IF, both the visual and sound design were well-done and helped to enhance the foreboding atmosphere. Quantum Survivor (full review) |
The visual styling is great [...] – I haven’t seen anything else like Baccaris’ games. [...] Music is used throughout, with appropriate music selected to raise tension or fill quieter moments. [...]Honestly, what I read into this game wasn’t about being a human, but about being made an alien. There’s a strand of imposter syndrome – being forced to fake it and hope you make it, feeling like an outcast, feeling like everyone mistrusts you. Comfort Castle (full review) |
“What is it to be holy?”, the game asks. What kind of question is that in a videogame? The game doesn’t compromise to make the subject more player-friendly. Hats off to anyone willing to do all this in such a coherent way. The story is fine, the aesthetics stunning, the interactions well thought. [...] It’s memorably written and illustrated. Both the story and the design follow the same principle: horror vacui. Pseudavid (full review) |
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REVIEWS OF DEVOTIONALIA
Don a high priest’s sacred mantle, for their holy labors are yours to direct. You may carve a votive, lead a prayer, or make a sacrifice — but you must see to the task with care. Unearthly eyes gaze down upon you from the sea above. Will your devotion reach them? Does it matter?
DEVOTIONALIA was nominated for Best Use of Multimedia in the 2018 XYZZY Awards. |
Music, darkness, melancholy, the unknowably alien, and the space to absorb them. That’s the mood which Devotionalia is after, and it skewers it like a moth on a specimen-board. [...] It’s about struggling to come to terms with the inevitable loss of something dear to you, something that wasn’t ever really yours in the first place, while knowing that you won’t ever really be OK about it. 8/10
Sam Kabo Ashwell (full review) |
In a way, this game reminds me of the works of Chandler Groover and Phantom Williams. It has a similar rich aesthetic. A surreal, haunting feel. A sense that there’s more hidden below the surface. [...] The interface matches the ambition of the prose. The music is atmospheric and appropriate. The aesthetics of the design are completely aligned to the game experience.
It’s something a little bit special, this. 10/10.
It’s something a little bit special, this. 10/10.
McT's Interactive Fiction Reviews (full review) |
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Together with the glowing hypertext links and the echoing chants of the background music, the whole package is a hauntingly beautiful piece [...] As a breakfast, I think it's rice congee with a firm, white fish, topped with flakes of crispy fried onions and fresh chives. It has an ascetic look, but threads of ginger and sesame oil boiled in with the rice make it surprisingly flavourful. And then, piping hot green tea. Christopher Huang (full review) |
The pensive mood of the game supports its plot. The author handles the alien details of the world well, showing rather than telling and focusing on the story rather than belaboring the setting details. It’s a much more original setting and plot than most games have, and the author provides just enough details to make it comprehensible but still mysterious, befitting the priest’s uncertainty about his gods. IFComprehensive (full review) |
It mostly does one thing, which is ‘an evocative, doomed setting of a cultist tending to a dying ritual’, but it does that one thing very, very well. The music and design choices heighten the experience; it’s probably one of the most slickly-produced games this year. Cat Manning (full review) |
