Testimonials

“Sarah is a great writer and narrative designer. She joined TCR at a relatively early stage of our reboot of the Bloodlines 2 project and very quickly moved from just writing dialogue to playing a key role in the overall development of the story and characters. She created and wrote some of the pivotal scenes in the game and it was wonderful for me (as someone who’s always had complete control as the sole writer on TCR’s projects) to have someone I could trust to take on more and more responsibility for keeping the quality of writing we’d built a reputation for at the level our fans expect. I really enjoyed working with Sarah and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her for any aspect of story creation and delivery.”

“Let’s talk about Sarah Longthorne, the writer, for a second. First, let’s get the normal bits out of the way that people can clearly see when they take the briefest look at her skills and portfolio:

Yes, she is an incredible writer. She has a wonderful grasp of character, voice, motivations, she’s genre-savvy, and will excel at performing those tasks. I personally watched her tackle multiple characters across numerous re-writes as needed by an ever-evolving project. She creates impactful and emotionally-resonant moments, from inception through the pipeline to in-game implementation, all while working with multiple disciplines to get the best result.
I mean, that’s narrative in game dev. And she wouldn’t have received the Game Dev Heroes award if she wasn’t exemplary at it.

But the second, and more important part of Sarah Longthorne, the person? The fact that she is a wonderful human being who cares about not just the project, but the people who work on it.
The industry has had some rough times over the last few years and she is a large part of why I’m still around to be part of it. When layoffs loomed, she dove right in and volunteered her time and empathy to fight for her coworkers’ rights and check in to see that everyone was okay. She understands that we all want to make the best game possible, and we can’t do that unless the people who create those memories feel safe. It’s that safety and camaraderie that make gamers reflect on these moments again and again hours, days, and even years down the line.

That’s what Sarah brings to the table. Her narrative skills combined with a team-based work ethic makes these stories last, long after the player has put down their controller.”

“Sarah and I worked together for six months on a very demanding narrative project. From the start her enthusiasm and passion were clear and she showed great aptitude across the full spectrum of the narrative process.

In particular Sarah shone in:
- Doing comprehensive research into a setting and using it to construct surprising and engaging characters and content
- Critiquing and contributing to the overall narrative arc and demonstrating a deep understanding of what makes story work
- Developing extensive narrative prototypes in ink and experimenting with narrative systems and flows

Even in her placeholder work, Sarah demonstrated a mastery of the written word with engaging prose and an eye for notable turn of phrase. She engaged well with the rest of the team and was able to bring others along on the journey and help them contribute to the world she was building.”

“Sarah is great to work with and we’d be sorry to lose her.

She has a strong grasp of sprawling interactive narratives and understands what a player desires; based on that, she’s well-practised at transforming basic dialogue into full conversations with well-realised characters.

In collaborative sessions, she consistently contributes solid ideas that resolve story challenges.

Sarah has played a key role in creating cutscenes, effectively communicating the material to the animation and cinematics team (and acting out scratch dialogue herself). Her solid grasp of story flow mechanics and engine limitations, along with her ability to adapt to changing requirements, has been invaluable. Even during challenging times for the project, she has maintained the narrative with dedication and put a lot of work into it.

Sarah’s contributions and expertise are a great asset to any team.”

“Collaborating with Sarah Longthorne during my time at WB Avalanche was one of the most positive experiences of my career. Her dialogue, storytelling, and branching narrative skills are impressive, but it’s her understanding of how players interact with characters emotionally that made her work stand out. Sarah is also a wonderful collaborator and I looked forward to every interaction I had with her. She understands how to take the best ideas in the room and translate them into meaningful player experiences. In our line of work that skill is worth its weight in gold. I would work with her again in a heartbeat and hope to do so again in the future.”

“Whenever I was involved in a discussion with Sarah, I always felt positive with the outcome. This is because she is a fantastic narrative designer who consistently comes up with great ideas on how to make both the narrative and level design work in tandem. In a sea of big voices, Sarah would still make herself heard in a concise and respectful manner, striving for the best solution for the project. And with everything on her plate, Sarah still took time to help develop other members of the level design team in their narrative design skills which is simply inspiring.

Sarah is incredibly easy to work with and an absolute delight to have on the team. She is a highly skilled writer, extremely supportive, and has actively helped to create a positive and effective working relationship between design and narrative.

I cannot recommend Sarah highly enough.”

“Sarah is a truly talented writer and designer. Working alongside her is a real highlight of my time at TCR. As well as being brilliant at crafting narratives, Sarah encourages her colleagues to be creative, and is extremely collaborative. Any studio would be very lucky to work with her.”

“Sarah is fantastic to work with! She has endless enthusiasm for her work and her team. During the recent industry reduncies she stepped forward into the role of Employee Rep and worked tirelessly to communicate and work hard to reach fair decisions for all parties involved. Her boundless hard working attitude was and still is appreciated by both current and former colleagues. She’s a dream to have on a team and fantastic to work with.”

“The two high-profile titles Sarah has contributed to over the past year are still both under NDA, but her contribution to both has been remarkable given her age and industry experience. The two titles couldn’t be more different in tone, but Sarah’s thorough research and creative adaptability mean she has adjusted to the change effortlessly.

Sarah’s impact at Sumo is also felt well beyond her project-specific work. She regularly gives talks and workshops at local Universities, and in her spare time has mentored three junior narrative designers. Sarah is also one of the studio’s most vocal members on topics of diversity and representation, helping to push us all towards better standards of inclusivity in our games and our work.

Even considering her narrative skills alone Sarah has a hugely promising future ahead of her, however given her tireless efforts to help others enter the industry, and to make minority voices heard, I believe she will not only be involved in many more great games but also become a leading voice to make our industry a better, more representative place.”

“Sarah was always a pleasure to work with. She showed an incredible level of commitment, tremendous attention to detail and an ability to pick up systems and mechanics with intelligence and conviction. She followed direction with accuracy, challenged decisions in a thoughtful and constructive manner, and was an asset to the entire team from her first day. As a writer, she was able to adopt any tone of voice and her work was always filled with thought, wit and humour. We will miss her!”

“Sarah had only been part of Fusebox for a short time before I joined, but she’d already fully established herself as an integral member of the writing team, fleshing out the design and story for Love Island The Game Season 2. Though she was new to the team, she wasn’t hesitant to get stuck in with the other members or put her views ahead. She integrates herself with the wider workforce easily and likes to get stuck in with activities outside of work.

Sarah has amazing energy for writing and is able to produce quality scripts at an astonishing rate. As well as being able to create great content, though, Sarah also has tremendous skill as an editor, able to recommend fantastic line edits as well as overall structural changes. She also has a mind for narrative, constantly able to think how to approach a project or script in a way that will be satisfying for the player, and is able to spot potential problems or inconsistencies before they arise.

It’s safe to say, that you can trust Sarah with any part of the narrative process and she will be a valuable asset to any team. ”

“Sarah is an outstanding writer at Fusebox Games with a fantastic attitude, kind nature, and overall brilliant standard of writing. Her analytical and creative mind is fine-tuned to the demands of interactive fiction. When Sarah joined Fusebox Games she was given the task of creating the first stand-alone episode for the popular narrative game: Love Island. Sarah took ownership of this daunting challenge with ease, commitment, and passion. Her ability to manage the possible twists and turns of the already constructed narrative was thoroughly demonstrated within this special episode — and in every other aspect of the project she has worked on since. She is an invaluable part of our team and it is a pleasure to work alongside someone with such a sincere passion and care for any creative task at hand. I truly believe that her creative energy and writing ability will continue to inspire and impress those who work alongside her.”

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Sarah for several years. She’s an excellent, versatile writer — equally at home with characterful dialogue, rich prose, or clear, crisp marketing copy. She brings passion, drive and fresh ideas to every project she works on, and readily takes feedback on board. Sarah’s adaptability, intelligence and boundless willingness to learn mean that she can turn her hand to anything that’s required of her. Highly recommended.”

“Sarah was great to worth with. On short notice, she was able to provide narrative consultation assistance with two in-development projects and help iterate upon multiple versions of different storylines and narrative outlines.

I have also had the privilege of mentoring Sarah on her journey towards her current career in narrative design. She is a great writer and is passionate about what she does, crafting her work with a great deal of thought, attention, and flair. It will be great to see where she goes next! ”

“Sarah was so easy to work with. Quick, professional, and very communicative. Not only did she respond to emails promptly, she also handily met the time estimates for her work and kept me posted on her progress along the way. She’s a great collaborator who takes feedback well and uses it to improve.

Sarah’s writing style was polished and in keeping with the style guide we gave her. Her plot structure fit well within our wordcount limit and made excellent use of building tension. I’m looking forward to working with her again!”

“[Sarah] is one of the most active, prolific and proactive members of staff at Jagex, and she has made countless contributions to the narrative and quest content of [RuneScape]. Her story contributions for our Menaphos Expansion and Ghost Stories of Gielinor event, in particular, were well-loved by the community, and her stock is rising with the ‘Lorehounds’ of the game, who search out for story details.

Sarah is a core member of the Writer’s Group at Jagex, and contributor to our Lore Council, as well as representing Jagex at various external conventions and workshops. She is relied on for copy for the website and email, and they are always direct, but with trademark colour and wit.

It’s also worth noting her design abilities. For our internal ‘Workshop’ initiative, which is a place for Jagex staff to pitch their gaming ideas, Sarah is probably the most dedicated supplier of ideas, and recently won a trip to China as the best game designer within the Workshop initiative.”