[Game Development] The mystery of the Isabella S. Gardner – Puzzle Adventure Game

Overview

This interactive project explores the mystery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist through an investigation blending reality, fiction, and time travel.

As part of the Space Team—a group of four creatives—I collaborated on this unique experience where players, guided by Agent F, must recover the last three missing paintings by traveling through different time periods.

My Role

• Web Development: Built the entire website from scratch using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.
• Game Script Writing: Contributed to the game’s script by crafting dialogues and story elements.
• Research: Assisted in gathering historical details to enrich the narrative.

At the time, I was also independently learning PHP, and I saw this project as the perfect opportunity to apply my knowledge in a real-world setting. Since the medium was flexible as long as it was online/digital, I took on the challenge of managing both the technical and creative aspects of the website.

Technical Highlights

Here is a snippet showing how I handled session management in PHP to track player progress:

session_management.php

<?php
session_start();

if (isset($_GET["i"])) {
    $_SESSION['i'] = $_GET["i"];
}
?>

To dynamically display objectives based on progress, I used conditional rendering in PHP:

objectives.php

<ul id="objectives">
    <li class="checked">Meet the agency members.</li>

    <?php if ($_SESSION['i'] > 4): ?>
        <li>Recover the Rembrandt painting.</li>
    <?php endif; ?>

    <?php if ($_SESSION['i'] > 5): ?>
        <li>Recover the Manet painting.</li>
    <?php endif; ?>

    <?php if ($_SESSION['i'] > 6): ?>
        <li>Recover the Vermeer painting.</li>
    <?php endif; ?>
</ul>

Additionally, I incorporated JavaScript for UI interactions, like toggling the navigation menu:

toggle_menu.js

document.getElementById("toggle").addEventListener("click", function() {
    document.getElementById("resize").classList.toggle("active");
});

Team Members

• Meriem Tedjini – Web Development, Game Script, Research
• Anna (Graphic Designer) – Visual Design & Assets
• Calvin (Team Leader, Researcher) – Project Coordination, Historical Research
• David (Writer, Researcher) – Narrative Design, Story Development