Course
Interactive Transmedia Narratives for New Media
Year
2025
Teachers
Prof. Mariana Ciancia
Prof. Ilaria Mariani
Teamwork
Yiming Bao, Elene Kharadze, Yuwei Li, Joel Mera, Eleonora Palma, Shinde Mansi Rajesh
SourceBound tells the story of a future dystopian world, but not too far from our own.
This game explores themes of self-discovery and self-acceptance, encouraging players to look beyond imposed beauty standards and confront societal perceptions of age and gender. Developed collaboratively as part of a university design lab at Politecnico di Milano, the project challenges the cultural double standard surrounding aging by revealing how time shapes perception differently for men and women.
Through an interactive narrative and symbolic world exploration, players experience the emotional and social consequences of these unequal norms, questioning values, power dynamics, and identity. The story invites reflection on how beauty influences self-worth and opportunity, contrasting the celebration of aging in men — often linked to authority and wisdom — with the marginalization of aging women, whose value is too often tied to youth and appearance.
Storyworld and society structure design
Set in the city of Temeris, a city born around The Source – a temporal anomaly that halts external aging – this project explores a society obsessed with eternal beauty and status.
The entire storyworld was conceived through the lenses of ethos, genos, telos, logos, and chronos, defining its moral codes, societal structure, and temporal logic. Divided between the Outer World and the Eternal District, Temeris is ruled by those closest to the Source, where hierarchy dictates worth and survival.
Characters design
We designed the main characters in depth, developing detailed character wheels, visual identities, and personal storylines that evolve through the game.
Each protagonist follows a carefully crafted transformational arc, reflecting their ethical, emotional, and societal journey within the world of Temeris. We also mapped the network of relationships among them and defined their roles within the hero’s journey, shaping how their interactions influence the player’s path and the unfolding narrative.
About the player’s adventure
Throughout the story, the player enters the world of Temeris by following Isla Mercer's journey, going from passive observer to active agent within the system.
Starting from the lowest social rank, as a Surveillance Guard, the player can initially only progress and climb the hierarchy by conforming to the established rules, becoming a Producer and then a Judge.
However, with each chapter, their perspective and responsibility expand. As the narrative unfolds, agency becomes central: the player's decisions increasingly shape both personal identity and the fate of Temeris, culminating in a final choice between preserving power or joining the rebellion to dismantle it.
Narrative based visual novel with minigames.
The game’s narrative follows the structure of the Hero’s Journey, with each key stage defining the player’s progression through the levels.
The opening chapters introduce the story through a combination of on-screen texts, visuals, sound effects, and music, gradually immersing the player in the world of Temeris. For the interactive narrative experience, we designed a visual novel that allows players to engage directly with the characters, influencing dialogues, relationships, and the unfolding of the story.
