The Lemnian Women
I returned from GDC 2013 with the task of programming my third team project game in just one week. Titled The Lemnian Women, our challenge was to select an early episode from Jason and the Golden Fleece and use it to address the depiction of women in both Apollonius' epic and the game industry at large.

The most logical scenario was the island of Lemnos. It was there that the female residents of the island slaughtered their unfaithful husbands. We decided to tackle the story from another angle, opting for a resource management game that would communicate its ideas through its mechanics, that the most optimal means of playing would act as a commentary on the subject matter.

​As the only programmer, I developed a real-time strategy system where players could observe and direct the residents of Lemnos. Each unit had unique behaviors and interactions with other characters based on a very specific ruleset.
– Role: Programmer
– Three team members
– Two Levels
Family Feud
We avoided the obvious "slay all the men" action game approach and instead ignored the slaughter entirely, focusing on the events that occurred before and after the female rebellion. A simplistic, testosterone-fueled action level would feel too male-centric, and simply changing the gender of the avatar wouldn't change that.

As a result, our levels were more thoughtful and methodical in approach. In the first stage, the player needs to balance resources (food, materials, etc.) and approval (how much the island's women agree with a potential takeover). Playing off traditional genre and gender tropes, men act as the "workers" that gather resources for the island. However, they will occasionally engage in adulterous acts with their slaves, slowing the gathering of resources (but increasing approval for the rebellion). Without sustainable resources, the island will fall apart. Thus, men appear to have dominance within their society.

However, it's actually the women that are in control. As the player commands the NPCs, they'll find that women can distract slaves with work, or can chastise the men when they flirt with the slaves. These actions will increase resource gain. Alternatively, the women can ignore these sexual encounters or set up scenarios that will increase their likelihood, increasing approval. The ultimate goal is to maximize approval while maintaining a healthy level of resources, so there is a careful balance that must be made between the two.
The second level takes place after the island takeover. The roles have been reversed, and now women gather resources for the island. Unfortunately, a problem arises when the island's population begins to dwindle. (I guess there are biological reasons why an island of a single gender can't be self-sustaining. Oops.)

Luckily, adventurers like Jason and the Argonauts will occasionally arrive at the island, treating Lemnos as a pit stop on some grand adventure. To them, the island's residents are no more than the generic, subservient female NPCs you might find in most any other adventure game.

Once again, superficially it appears as if the male adventurers have the better role as they take advantage of the island's women. In reality it is the women who seduce the men, just as it occurred in Jason and the Golden Fleece. The women can make love to the men in order to increase their population. Doing so means they are distracted from gathering resources, resulting in a decline in resource gains.

Just like the first level, a balance must be made. The player will want to max out their population to win, but they must also manage their resources in order to reach that goal.
How I Met Your Mother
Girl Power
The general theme of The Lemnian Women is that, like in the first half of Apollonius' Jason and the Golden Fleece, women are generally depicted as being weaker than their male counterparts, but in reality it could be argued they hold great power in less obvious ways. Women aren't generally shown to be heroic or capable in the game industry, and are instead often sexualized and objectified. The Lemnian Women takes advantage of these tropes (such as the use of sex as a game mechanic) and turns them on their heads to empower the women of Lemnos in ways that aren't often seen in mainstream games.
The state of island residents can be observed by clicking on their respective houses. The player can also command them in this way.
A slave is flirting with a husband. How will the wife react?
As a visiting adventurer walks by, a woman has the choice of seducing him.