Abigail Scheidler
January - April 2023
Instruction
Student Game Team - 2 people - Unity
A narrative clicker game that tells the story of a mysterious red button and a sentient A.I. named I.M.P. I wrote all 300+ lines of dialogue, including main story dialogue, reactive dialogue, and multiple endings. Shipped on Steam with over 630 reviews!
Steam Stats
Launched February 2nd, 2023
94%
Positive
User Reviews on Steam
69+
Thousand
Downloads on Steam
633
Total
User Reviews on Steam
Updated 11/10/2025
2.2
Million
Collective Views on YouTube
--- Steam Reviews ---
Role: Narrative Designer
My role on the team was to conceptualize and outline the narrative arc of the game and write the dialogue for the character of I.M.P, a tired, snarky sentient AI that speaks to the player as they hit various milestones.
I created the character of I.M.P. by looking at other games with similar mechanics and tones. Games like "Please, Don't Touch Anything" and "Portal" were very helpful in aligning with the old dingy factory and the passive aggression towards the player. I wrote and organized dialogue blocks using Google Sheets, making it easy to implement. I had feedback meetings with the team to read through and critique dialogue. In the final version of the project, over 300 lines of my dialogue.
Synopsis
The player takes the role of a new worker at a strange old powerplant. There is one red button in the center that the player can't interact with. The Intelligence Mentor Program, or I.M.P. for short, springs to life and teaches the player how to generate volts. As the player collects volts, I.M.P. talks about the powerplant, the "dangerous" material they use, and the number of new hires there have been.
Eventually, I.M.P. tries to access the red button themselves. They discover something, but get manually shut down before they're able to say. When I.M.P. speaks again, they're memory has been tampered with. Once the player reaches their quota for the first time, they receive a secret code through a vent. By following the code and solving puzzles, the player is able to discover the truth behind the powerplant.
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We had three big project milestones where I was able to make changes to the dialogue. These milestones were named Alpha, Beta, and Gold. Press the buttons below to skip to that phase in development.
Alpha - Develop a Character
"I'll be your Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short
...
I was not given input on the acronym, please do not take it to heart"
- Imp's Introduction (Alpha)
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Alpha)
"Ah. I was supposed to read you the safety procedures about 950 volts ago
Oh well.
I am IMP but I am perhaps not what the original developers intended
I believe you humans call this state of being "Sentient".
I can sit in comfortable haughty silence whenever I want"
Feedback
"It sounds too much like you."
"It's too bloated."
"It doesn't really tell a story."
This was my first time ever writing dialogue on a team. I had messed around in personal projects but now other people were going to read it. I needed to introduce the character to other people outside of my head.
At this point though, I didn't know the character or the story well enough. Without knowing it at the time, I totally used my own voice when writing the dialogue.
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The character didn't have their own voice yet so there was nothing to get attached to. Nobody really felt anything towards I.M.P. which was a problem. Especially as the story found it's feet.
Solution
I started by reading through and taking out anything that reads with my voice. I took some time to think about what I.M.P. would and wouldn't say as a character. I also defined my dialogue triggers more directly with the tech lead, so I knew when the player would see what. That made it easier to structure an actual narrative experience using the dialogue. I already had. I also gave myself a character limit on each line of dialogue to try and address the bloat problem.
Beta - Cut, Cut, Cut
"I am the Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short.
I have access to all systems you’ll be using today.
...I’m supposed to anyway. I am having a hard time accessing that central button."
- Imp's Introduction (Beta)
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Beta)
"...Oh.
I was supposed to recite the safety procedures 950 volts ago.
That is what happens when you rewrite your own code.
My original programming wouldn’t have allowed me to forget.
But that was very annoying.
I believe you humans would call this "Sentience"."
Feedback
"It's still too bloated."
"I'm confused about the plot."
"I don't think IMP would say that."
Now the character of IMP was starting to show through a little more. I got rid of some of the awkward phrases like "haughty silence" and let I.M.P's sentience speak for itself. I added a more computer tone by removing extra words like "perhaps" and "oh well."
Even with these improvements, I had to be careful that I didn't break out of the voice I established because now the audience could tell what did and didn't "sound like I.M.P.".
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I also was starting to have issues with how to impart the story to the audience. With limited technology and art assets to work with, how could I "show" and not "tell" through IMP?
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Solution
I did another pass, specifically trying to nail the character voice in as few words as possible. I started taking out certain details and leaving the audience to interpret what went "unsaid". For I.M.P.'s memory wipe, I let the audience have more space to figure it out rather than just say it out loud. This pass also involved deciding what information was vital for the player to understand the plot. I almost took out everything that was solely there for a joke, the only thing that stayed with the 420 joke per user feedback.
Gold - The Little Things
"I am the Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short.
I will monitor your progress and assist you as needed.
Your job is to generate enough volts to fill your quota."
- Imp's Introduction (Gold)
"I was supposed to recite the safety procedures 950 volts ago.
That is what happens when you rewrite your own code.
My original programming wouldn’t have allowed me to forget.
I found that very annoying.
I believe you humans would call this "Sentience"."
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Gold)
Feedback
"This line is too long."
"It could always be better."
This was one of the last passes I did on dialogue before shipping to Steam. I was mostly focused on polishing and tightening up the dialogue wherever I could.
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It was impressive to see how small changes made a huge difference, especially after watching players read the dialogue out loud.
In this snippet, changing the phrase "But that was very annoying" to "I found that very annoying" gave I.M.P. a lot more agency in the sentence. It sounded more independent, which makes sense in the context of IMP gaining sentience.
Reflection
​As I look back on this dialogue, I'm proud of what I accomplished in a few months. Writing a computer character took a lot more attention to detail than I originally thought.
With that said, I've definitely learned a lot since this project. Now, when I read over this dialogue, I think the wording could be better. There are still a lot of unnecessary "flavor words" that could have been cut. Some of the jokes and information could have landed better with a tighter script. I also wish I could have implemented some more story events outside of dialogue.
Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience and I'll never forget I.M.P. :)