Every autumn, as the cool weather sets in and I prepare for winter’s hibernation, a wave of inspiration washes over me and I just feel the need—the necessity—to create. Something. Anything. Winters in Canada are long and unforgiving. I’m thankful to be blessed with the curiosity, patience and skill to use the downtime to master a craft.

As such, I’ve been learning to code in Scratch with the ambition of creating a simple 8-bit video game. It won’t be Fortnight but heck, maybe it will be the next Pong. Below are two character concepts I’ve created for two different games; I want one to celebrate the nature and wonder of my home province of Manitoba, and the other is (of course) my Monty who will star in his own adventure.

Churchill the polar bear from a game concept titled “Churchill Rush” (©Deborah Clague)

My Monty from a game concept titled “A Walk in the Park” (©Deborah Clague)