An Audience With…

The award-winning game designer on the ethics of altering reality

Award-winning game designer Robin Hunicke discusses the ethics of altering reality

Robin Hunicke’s business card reads ‘ CEO/ Empath’. Indeed, there are many sides to the game designer. Best known for her work on

Journey, she is now co-founder of experimental indie-game studio Funomena, currently preparing to launch VR and PC fairytale puzzler Luna while working on the typically wacky Keita Takahashi title, Wattam, due next year. She is also, by her own admission, the kind of person with “sensitive antennae: if I go into a room full of people, one of my first feelings is if someone is unhappy, I always know it.”

Her work with modern videogame technology and her compassionate nature often clash and combine to creative effect. Here, Hunicke discusses Wattam’s return with new publisher Annapurna Interactive, her long-time friendship with Takahashi, and the technical, ethical and personal challenges of designing for virtual and augmented reality.