Helpless
I was a producer on Helpless and was working along with a team of 22 people. It took us around 5 months (1000 hours) to release Helpless to Steam for free. This project was made on Unreal 5 and we had the opportunity to work with a sound design team to make original sounds and soundtrack. Helpless is a game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic desert environment you get to play as a child that has never known anything else. The sun is your biggest challenge and you have to hide from it in order to survive.
My role on this project
- Producing: Story and sprint planning, scrum meetings, public speaking, decision-making for the game’s scope etc.
- Marketing: Content creation, graphic design, press release, platform management.
- UX : Conducting and organizing playtests, developing playtests questions along with design team, compiling data.
Design intention
The intention behind Helpless changed a lot since it’s first draft. Ultimately, our team settled for a walking-sim where players would be able to embrace the solitude of the desert and still feel its dangers. The story had a lot to do with it. A child has to overcome the unknown in order to make things right with their mom and help her. Nothing is the same as before; it’s a coming-of-age story that the player gets to learn with the main character. To make this happen, the player is able to make choices, explore and make new discoveries.
Alpha timeline
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/boardnov-dec_helpless.png)
Early planning and creating online identity
- Writing and planning user stories for the Alpha.
- Updating sprints and tasks with each department every week.
- Weekly scrum meetings.
- Logo creation.
- Writing and posting content for online platforms with artists' creations and early gameplay every week.
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/notes_playtesthelpless.jpg)
Organizing playtests
- Writing questions to ask playtesters.
- Taking notes during playtests.
- Communicating results to team and changing sprints for each team accordingly.
Beta/Gold timeline
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/boardnov-dec_helpless.png)
Beta and marketing planification
- Post-mortem changes after alpha playtests.
- Writing and planning user stories for the Beta.
- Writing, researching and designing Steam page.
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/helplessSteam.gif)
Marketing platforms and task management
- Updating sprints and tasks with each department every week.
- Weekly scrum meetings.
- Writing and making visuals/video content for ; Steamworks, Facebook, Instagram.
- Organizing, conducting and writing for playtests each week.
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/helplesspresskit.png)
Press release and QA
- Making press kit and sending it out to press list.
- Ads and posts about the game's release.
- Bug database creation for the team to move to QA full-time.
![](https://audreylemay.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/370284306_227999920146421_3533392358404452684_n.jpg)
Game's release
- Gameplay presentation for UQAT graduates' showcase.
- Keeping up with different media and influencers for Helpless' visibility online.
- Over 20k unique players today.