The Call of Karen

projects > call-of-karen
Quick Facts
The Call of Karen title card

Project Type

PC Game

My Roles

Lead Systems Programmer, Technical Designer

Responsibilities

Marketing, Community Management, Localization, Player Tech Support

Team Size

4

Timeline

Jan 2019 - Jun 2020

Achievements

  • Featured in Kritiqal Care Podcast
  • Featured in Den-fami Nico Gamer News
  • Runner-up @ MassDigi Game Challenge 2020
  • Showcased at PAX East 2020
  • Featured on Boston Indies Talk Show & Happy Hour
  • WPI Provost MQP Award
  • Featured in WPI Virtual Research Showcase
The Call of Karen
Wordmark Call of Karen drippy font over a overhead rendering of the living room from the game
Made With: UnrealC++BlueprintSteam APIGit

Description

The Call of Karen is a PC simulation comedy game about a 1950s suburban housewife whose home is being invaded by Cthulhu. Play as Karen, trapped in an unhappy marriage taking care of an ungrateful child, and faced with the struggle of keeping up appearances in the face of a home gone mad. Play through tasks that a suburban mom would do as her house slowly descends into chaos!

The game was released for free on Steam in June of 2020, and has received awards, press coverage, and over 120,000 downloads worldwide. The game was officially sunsetted in summer of 2022 after two years of support.

Personal Accomplishments

  • Implemented event/state and game save systems in Unreal Engine C++

  • Built level loading, localization, and gameplay systems using UE4 blueprint

  • Designed and implemented user interface for in-game menus

  • In-engine implementation of art, including custom Animation Blueprints

  • Contributed to all aspects of design, development, and release

  • Created custom subtitle engine and UI localization features supporting 8 languages (English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Portugese, Polish, Japanese)

  • Developed/maintained Call of Karen website and carried out pre and post-release marketing and community management

  • Co-authored a published research paper detailing the game’s design process and technical implementation

Mikel Matticoli

Question? Work inquiry? Just want to chat? I'd love to hear from you!

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