Alexei Othenin-Girard’s Portfolio

Thank you for visiting my portfolio page. Here you can find evidence of my past work, as well as writing samples and (soon) Unity projects.

Curriculum Development

I have partnered with Unity Technologies to extensively rewrite their Curricular Framework. The finished document runs over 300 pages and presents a standards-aligned, year-long curriculum to teach Unity and game design at the high school level, along with a workbook of activities and resources that teachers can use to guide student learning. The Framework can be downloaded here, after filling out a brief survey:

https://create.unity3d.com/curricular-framework

For four years, I was the lead teacher at Balboa High School’s Game Design Academy. In that time, I developed the program into a robust CTE Academy complete with mentorships and internships, college and career readiness training, and direct connections to industry.

As part of my work there, I wrote curriculum for both years of my program. A full Curriculum/Scope and Sequence, as well as a Unit Schedule. Some example Lesson Plans are also provided.

Systems Design

One of my great passions is doing game analysis and systems design. I love building systems from scratch, but I also enjoy design analysis. Included below is an analysis of a game called Thrive ‘n’ Shine, a game by Mind Blown Labs which taught the basics of money management and investment strategy to high school students. Below is a design analysis that I produced based on a release version of that game, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the prototype, and giving recommendations about future development.

Narrative and Character Development

Finally, I love developing stories and characters. I have been an avid Table Top Roleplaying enthusiast for years, and I have extensive experience building environments, planning scenes, writing dialogue, etc.

Recently, I had the pleasure of working with The Game Academy, an organization that uses table top role playing to help develop social skills in middle school students. I wrote a scenario for them in which four groups of players needed to work together to solve an inter-dimensional refugee crisis, which highlighted themes of cooperation, interdependence, and empathy. This was a collaborative effort, with many authors writing scenarios for different tables. The version reproduced below focuses on the narrative development I did, as well as the structural work I created to ensure that the game would have the desired effect on the players.

Writing Samples

Here are some further samples of Narrative and Academic writing I’ve done:

An article about the Surrealist art movement and its connection to the role playing game Invisible Sun

An in-character article reporting on events from within the world of Invisible Sun

Carpe DM

Carpe DM is a podcast about learning how to run Dungeons and Dragons, the tabletop sensation. Two veterans (myself and Chris Hockabout) teach our friend Meredith how to be run great games. We talk about scene structure, challenges, stereotypes in role playing, the player contract, and more! Check it out here!