Experiences become choices
Your studies, jobs and projects turn into scenes and paths. The recruiter decides where to go, and remembers it because they chose it.
A Hoken Tech workshop on game design and storytelling
Turn your CV into a video game.
How would you show who you are… by letting people play? In this workshop you turn your experiences into scenes and choices and build a visual novel: a playable CV you can publish online and link from your résumé and LinkedIn. Try the one on the right, then see how it's made.
- Engine
- Ren'Py, open source
- Language
- Ren'Py script
- Result
- A playable CV online
Play a CV
A mini visual novel in the browser. Click the dialogue to go on.
LV 1
0/4 XP
LEVEL UP
YOUR CV
script.rpy
label start:
Every line shown here is real Ren'Py code.
Why turn a CV into a game
A sheet of paper lists what you did. A game lets people experience it, one choice at a time.
More memorable, more visual
Images, characters and transitions leave a stronger impression than a list of bullet points, and they show how you tell a story.
A portfolio that stands out
It's a technical and creative project you can link from your résumé, LinkedIn and a QR code. Few candidates send one.
So what is a visual novel?
An interactive story made of text, backgrounds, characters and choices. Two pictures explain it.
A story with crossroads
Like a choose-your-own-adventure book with images and transitions. At every fork the player picks a path, and the story can lead to different endings. It's perfect for telling a path made of decisions and values.
Your CV becomes a map
At the centre there's a hub, like the main square of a game. From there you visit education, work, skills and projects, and you can always come back. The CV stops being a list and becomes a place to explore.
Words and commands you'll come across
How a CV game is built
Every section of the CV is a label, a chapter of the script. Press "Follow a playthrough" to see how a player moves through them.
Anatomy of a Ren'Py project
game/ images/ bg_intro1.jpg Alfredo.png audio/ background_music.mp3 script.rpy options.rpy gui.rpy
- script.rpy is where the whole story lives: characters, scenes, dialogue and choices.
- options.rpy, gui.rpy hold the game's settings and the look of the interface.
- game/images, game/audio are where backgrounds, characters and music go.
- Naming rules: no spaces in file names, and always include the extension (.png, .jpg, .mp3).
Inside the script
This is the script.rpy written live during the workshop, piece by piece: the code on the left, what it means on the right. Hover over an explanation to see which lines it refers to.
The workshop, from a blank project to a game online
These are the steps we follow in class, in five stages, with the real screenshots. All the software is free: Ren'Py, Visual Studio Code and a browser.
Also as a full course: 20 hours, 5 lessons
For schools and training programmes the workshop becomes a 20-hour project: five 4-hour lessons, each ending with something concrete to hand in.
How we work
Project-based learning in short cycles, with structured peer review.
70% lab
30% theory
How projects are assessed
What each student takes home
Resources to keep going
Scan the QR codes with your phone or follow the links. Everything is free.
Who runs the workshop
Alfredo de Candia, CTO of Hoken Tech
Android developer with more than 60 published apps, crypto and blockchain specialist with more than 20 books to his name, and game director of over 50 games. Nominated at the NFT Awards 2020 and named best crypto journalist on Hacker Noon in 2021 and 2023.
Level Up Your CV is a Hoken Tech workshop. Ren'Py is free, open-source software developed by its own community.
If you found the workshop useful, leave a review on Trustpilot.