Dan_Hett

Dan Hett

Dan Hett

English artist

Dan Hett is a digital artist, writer and games designer from Manchester, UK.[1] He is also a member of the Algorave live coding electronic music and visuals movement, performing under the name Rituals.[2]

Quick Facts Occupation(s), Website ...

Career

Hett's writing is influenced by the death of his younger brother Martyn Hett in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.[3] He wrote a trilogy of games about the experience: c ya laterrrr, The Loss Levels and Sorry to Bother You. Hett is known for short introspective autobiographical narrative games and interactive fiction, which explore radicalisation, extremism and identity politics in the UK.[4][5] His work The Loss Levels has been exhibited at Now Play This festival in London and Sheffield DocFest.[6][7]

Until 2016 Hett worked in the BBC Children's and R&D departments, where he developed apps and digital games across a range of languages and platforms. He was technical lead on the CBeebies Storytime app, and also designed and built the core of the BBC's first cross-platform multiplayer games API.[8]

He founded a small independent games studio called PASSENGER GAMES in 2018, which produced the game Closed Hands.[9]

In 2021 Hett became Creative Technologist at the School of Digital Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University.[10]

Awards

Works

Interactive Fiction

  • c ya laterrrr, 2017
  • The Loss Levels, 2018
  • Sorry To Bother You, 2018
  • Closed Hands, 2021

References

  1. [1]
    "Dan Hett | ELMCIP". elmcip.net. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Rituals". Algorave. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  3. [3]
    "Games console: Dan Hett, the indie game designer pouring his grief into interactive art". the Guardian. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. [4]
    "Dan Hett's video games take on grief, radicalisation and ethical journalism". The Big Issue. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  5. [5]
    Purchese, Robert (8 May 2021). "Understanding Closed Hands, a game about reactions to a terrible event". Eurogamer. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  6. [6]
    "Exploring virtual worlds together: Alternate Realities at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  7. [7]
    "My brother Martyn Hett died in the Manchester bombing - this is why I made a video game about it". inews.co.uk. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  8. [8]
    "Dan Hett - BBC R&D". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  9. [9]
    "Closed Hands: the novel-sized game exploring extremism". The Face. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Manchester writer, artist and games developer joins School of Digital Arts - School of Digital Arts (SODA) – Manchester Metropolitan University". 23 September 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  11. [11]
    "Winners 2015". Broadcast Digital Awards. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  12. [12]
    "British Academy Children's Awards Winners Announced". www.bafta.org. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Archive". New Media Writing Prize. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  14. [14]
    "Interview with Main Prize winner Dan Hett". New Media Writing Prize. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  15. [15]
    "New Media Writing Prize 2020 | ELMCIP". elmcip.net. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
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