Not Neko Case (no disrespect). Nicky Case, and the quality of their work, passion, and humanity. But let’s just say if the world was ending and we could only choose 100 living people to represent Earthlings, I’m pretty sure I’d like Nicky to be on that list (after me, because I don’t want to die).
Nicky made a big splash in the indie game scene in 2014 with the Coming Out Simulator, which is just fantastic on so many levels (interview). I’m so happy they took the time to redirect such a painful personal experience into such a powerful tool for humanity. But Nicky didn’t stop there. Just check out this fun, interactive story about cognitive behavioral therapy. And this beautiful, peaceful, interactive explanation of synchronizing fireflies. And this cute, informative, interactive blog post on segregation. And this touching, interactive greeting card. And this tantalizing, interactive blog post on 2D light animations, used in their oh-so-immersive, poignant, open-source game, Nothing To Hide, an anti-stealth game where you play a teenage girl living in a creepy dystopian future who runs away and tries her best to find privacy only at the cost of being killed or considered a total downer. And there’s more.
The key phrase here is interactive and immersive. Interactive story telling, education, blog posts, and of course games and simulations. They also call it Explorable Explanations. And what an eye for aesthetics! Nicky’s work is science, systems, emotion, immersion, and art all rolled into one.
Did I mention that most of the work is no rights reserverd as well? Pretty amazing. I mean who takes the time to create such beautiful work only to give it away? Someone who is both passionate and caring, that’s who.
I just wanted to take the time to plug Nicky because I admire their ability to explain just about anything in such a fun, interactive, beautiful, creative way, and then give it away. And as a cs and programming teacher, I am downright jealous! Nicky is also a fun presenter. I look forward to more inspiring work in the future.
Keep up with Nicky Case here:
Website
Patreon
Twitter
YouTube
The blog post photo comes from this Imgur.