Jenny Jiao Hsia – Five Lessons I Learned from Making Consume Me (The Hard Way) | D.I.C.E. Summit

In this microtalk, independent game developer Jenny Jiao Hsia (co-director of Consume Me) shares five hard-earned lessons from spending nearly a decade making an award-winning narrative game on a shoestring budget. She unpacks what it really takes to ship: the difference between prototypes and a coherent game, why discipline matters more than inspiration, and how “small teams” often mean concentrated workload and invisible roles–when the dream job starts to feel like work.

This talk is a part of the "Voices of the Story Ahead” – a series of micro sessions spotlighting four emerging developers who are shaping what comes next. These speakers share personal insights, creative breakthroughs, and fresh perspectives on how diverse voices, evolving technology, and bold ideas are redefining narrative and play. Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Entertainment serves as the session’s emcee, introducing each talk.

Learn more about the D.I.C.E. Summit at http://www.dicesummit.org.

Jenny Jiao Hsia – Five Lessons I Learned from Making Consume Me (The Hard Way) | D.I.C.E. Summit

The D.I.C.E. Summit provides a rare glimpse into the craft, discipline, and grit behind a project that starts as a spark and ends as a conversation with players. In a recent talk, Jenny Jiao Hsia shared the hard-earned lessons from producing Consume Me (The Hard Way), a project that challenged assumptions, stretched budgets, and tested teams in ways a conventional development path rarely does. Here are the five insights that stood out, framed to be useful for teams navigating ambitious, boundary-pushing initiatives.

1) Start with a clear emotional throughline, not just a gameplay loop The most compelling experiences begin with an emotional core. Hsia emphasized that a game’s resonance comes from a throughline that players can feel—moments of tension, release, curiosity, and consequence. Rather than assembling a set of features and hoping for narrative cohesion, she urged teams to articulate the intended emotional journey from day one and let every design decision serve that trajectory. This approach helps align disparate disciplines—art, sound, design, and narrative—toward a singular, impactful experience.

2) Embrace scarcity as a design constraint, not a limitation Consume Me (The Hard Way) thrived because limitations sharpened focus. Budget, time, and scope constraints forced prioritization and forced the team to question “nice to have” features that would not serve the core experience. Hsia reminded listeners that constraints can be engines of creativity, prompting innovative solutions rather than diluting quality. The takeaway: articulate constraints early, publish them publicly to align stakeholders, and let trade-offs define the project’s identity.

3) Build a culture that protects risk and accelerates iteration The path to meaningful innovation is paved with experiments that may fail in small, reversible ways. A culture that supports rapid prototyping, frequent playtests, and honest post-mortems is essential. Hsia highlighted the importance of psychological safety—where team members feel comfortable voicing concerns and proposing bold ideas. By normalizing iteration as a deliberate, data-informed process rather than a back-and-forth slog, the team can learn faster and refine the experience more effectively.

4) Design for accessibility without compromising artistry A recurring theme in the session was the balance between artistic vision and inclusive design. Accessibility should be woven into the core mechanics from the outset, not added as an afterthought. This means thoughtful choices about control schemes, color contrast, and information density that respect diverse player abilities while preserving the envisioned aesthetic. The result is a broader audience able to engage deeply with the game’s concepts, rather than a narrower slice of players who can tolerate a difficult barrier to entry.

5) Communicate your intent with candor to sustain momentum Transparent communication with both internal teams and external partners sustains momentum through inevitable challenges. Hsia spoke about framing conversations around intent, constraints, and evolving priorities. When stakeholders understand the rationale behind decisions—especially when they require trade-offs or scope changes—buy-in and trust increase. This clarity also smooths the process of adjusting plans in response to feedback, accessibility findings, or shifting market realities.

A framework for teams inspired by these lessons – Define the emotional throughline: Write a one-paragraph summary of the player journey you want to evoke. – Publicly declare constraints: List budget, timeline, and scope boundaries and revisit them at major milestones. – Build an iteration-first process: Schedule regular playtests with diverse audiences and capture actionable data. – Design for inclusion from the start: Integrate accessibility into core mechanics and visual design decisions. – Communicate with intent: Document decisions, rationales, and next steps in a living project log shared with all stakeholders.

In reflecting on Jenny Jiao Hsia’s insights, it becomes clear that producing a game like Consume Me (The Hard Way) is as much about disciplined storytelling and adaptive problem-solving as it is about technical prowess. The five lessons distilled from the talk offer a pragmatic blueprint for teams aiming to deliver ambitious projects without surrendering artistic integrity or player-centric thinking. For developers, designers, and producers who are navigating the tension between vision and viability, these reflections provide both inspiration and a practical path forward.

If you’re planning a bold project, consider applying these lessons not as rigid rules but as guiding principles that evolve with your team. The journey from concept to compelling player experience is rarely linear, but with a clear emotional arc, a culture that prizes experimentation, built-in accessibility, and transparent communication, it’s possible to make the hard way feel purposeful—and profoundly rewarding.

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