Best of What's Next 2009: Daniel Benmergui [Game Developer]

Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Games: Today I Die, Storytelling, I Wish I Were the Moon
For Fans Of: Atari 2600, Magnetic Poetry, Jason Rohrer

In Daniel Benmergui’s games, a click of the mouse can rewrite a life. A one-time programming lead at Gameloft Buenos Aires, Benmergui left to develop games independently. His latest titles—all available for free at ludomancy.com—present interactive stories in miniature frames. In Storyteller, three image panels convey an epic story, but the player can rewrite the ending just by shuffling the heroes and villains. And Today I Die, Benmergui’s latest work, uses the model of magnetic fridge poetry to change a suicide note into an affirmation of life, one word at a time.  

What’s Next? “I am toying with several prototypes,” says Benmergui. “One is a story builder like Storyteller, only more of a sandbox to make up interesting situations. I am also working on a game Rod Humble (The Marriage) has commissioned to me, which is about love and money. … But I am accumulating a lot of unfinished prototypes, so I am not sure what I will come up with next.”