Portfolio

Hi! My name is Ben Kaestner-Frenchman. I’m a writer and narrative designer who’s worked for companies including Wizards of the Coast and Nintendo.

This is my portfolio, along with a list of projects I’ve worked on professionally.

Writing Sample 1: Love Island the Game Intimate Romance Scenes
PDF file
This document contains the final four ‘intimacy modules’ for Camilo, one of the romanceable characters in Love Island the Game Season 3 – a cheeky, athletic, and caring Romford lad with a Colombian background.

There are ten intimacy modules in all, interspersed throughout the main storyline of the game. They represent the bulk of Camilo’s character growth, forming an intimate character arc that lets the player feel like they’re really getting to know Camilo.

He starts off as someone who takes on too much responsibility for others at the expense of his own dreams, and, through the player’s gentle influence, ends up deciding to live a little more for himself.

BKF Writing Sample – Camilo Intimacy ModulesDownload

Writing Sample 2: Character Bios, Barks and Banter
PDF file
Work that I did for Lively on an unreleased mobile auto-battler with a Stranger Things-meets-Buffy vibe.

BKF Writing Sample – Character Bios, Barks and BanterDownload

Writing Sample 3: Magic the Gathering Creative Text
PDF file
A curated selection of my published work on Magic the Gathering.

BKF Writing Sample – Magic the Gathering Creative TextDownload

Writing Sample 4: My Battery is Low and It’s Getting Dark
Twine Game – itch.io link
This piece of interactive fiction was inspired by this news story. What would you say to someone who gained sentience a few minutes before they were going to die?

Writing Sample 5: Do You Have a Moment to Talk About the Great Eel?
Twine Game – itch.io link
A branching conversation that would serve as a quest seed for a fantasy RPG such as the Witcher 3 or Baldur’s Gate 3.

Games I’ve worked on as a writer:

  • Super Horde Survival, built in UEFN | Lively
    • Game designer and sole narrative designer, responsible for naming characters, developing the backstory, and designing and implementing quests in-engine. I also took ownership of the game’s hub area, including level design, NPCs, shop functionality and game start flow.
  • Mystery Gang | Lively (unreleased)
    • Sole narrative designer, responsible for naming and fleshing out characters, developing the plot, and working with other departments to lay the groundwork for the narrative systems used in the game.
  • Hello Kitty AR: Kawaii World | Lively (unreleased)
    • Collaborated with the other Narrative Designer to turn two-dimensional characters from an existing IP into deep, nuanced characters, while staying within the established confines of their personalities.
    • Designed and wrote quests in Unity, using an in-house tool.
    • Wrote dialogue for an emergent dialogue system that lets NPCs respond intelligently to the player’s choices.
  • Love Island The Game | Fusebox Games (testimonial)
    • Love Island The Game Season 2
    • Love Island The Game: The Wedding
    • Love Island The Game Season 3
  • Matchmaker | Fusebox Games
    • Matchmaker: Love Island
    • Beanie Quinn: Murder in the Coffee Shop
    • Beanie Quinn: Theft in the Village
  • Splatoon 1 & 2 “Splatfests” | Nintendo
    • These take the form of short, characterful introductions to the theme of the event, spoken by the game mascots (either Callie and Marie or Pearl and Marina). Unlike the bulk of the content in the game, these are written from scratch, not translated.
  • Two adventure modules for the Slavic-inspired “Old Roads” setting | MetaArcade (unreleased) (testimonial)
  • “80 Days” live game | Fire Hazard Games (testimonial)

Games I’ve worked on as a translator (all Nintendo except where indicated):

  • Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
  • Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland | Gust
  • Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
  • Everybody’s Golf VR | Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Fire Emblem: Three Houses
  • Go! Vacation
  • Mario Maker
  • Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate | Capcom
  • My Nintendo (website)
  • NES Remix 2
  • Nintendo Account (website)
  • Paper Mario: Color Splash
  • Puzzle and Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition
  • Splatoon 1
  • Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion DLC
  • Style Boutique 3: Styling Star
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country

Anime I’ve worked on as a translator:

  • Yamishibai | Sentai Filmworks
  • Joshiraku | Sentai Filmworks
  • Nagasarete Airantou | Sentai Filmworks