The Night of the Grizzlies
ROLE
Digital Designer, Illustrator
CLIENT
Student Work
YEAR
2025
The Ask
National Parks After Dark is a podcast that explores the dark side of recreating in our beloved outdoor spaces. I was tasked with taking this thrilling form of storytelling and creating an interactive digital medium to engage users with the content of the podcast, while also educating audiences on the beauty and dangers of our National Parks.
What I Did
I created an app that allows users to explore stories through game play. The Night of the Grizzlies is a social deduction game geared towards young adults who need an imaginative game that offers beautiful game design and prioritizes simplicity, education, and diversity.
Goal 01
Make the game accessible and representative of all users
According to the Journal of Leisure, the majority of people who visit National Parks (74%) are white. Lets change the narrative, and show empowered POC in the outdoors! And of course let's keep our colors and typography accessible to our audiences.
Goal 02
Guarantee engaging game play through beautiful and playful visuals.
Traditionally, social deduction games are geared towards children (think Mafia, Among Us, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf). Lets make this game appeal to adults as well by having visuals that are playful, but refined.
Goal 03
Educate users on the beauty, history, and importance of safety in National Parks.
One of National Parks After Dark’s goals is to ensure the safety of park visitors and preserve the National Parks. The app should have educational elements that stay with the audience, even when they aren’t playing.
Outcome 01
Clear Onboarding
The instructional audio and straightforward game play allowed users to complete tasks.
"Cute graphics and clear instructions" - Test User
Outcome 02
Visual Enjoyment
"I like the unique and somewhat niche theme, as well as the visual style of the app" - Test User
Outcome 03
Important Safety Tips
Users learned the importance of bear safety
"I never knew that toothpaste could attract bears from so far away. I need to stop putting it in my tent when I go camping!" - Test User
Home
Game Setup
Users needed an easy way to set up the game and get all players connected.
So I made a page that would allow users to select their preferred characters and profile icon. The bear, ranger, and search and rescue are required to play so they are automatically selected. The app has an integrated algorithm to calculate the number of each character in play based on the number of players.
The login screen features multiple ways for users to connect to the game as long as they have a device. Users can play online or in the app.
Character Assignment
National Parks After Dark is an educational platform, so their app needed to integrate educational elements.
So I made a character assignment card that would provide quick facts about each character with pertinent safety tips about navigating national parks.
Users needed onboarding to explain how to play as their character, so the character assignment explains the goals of each role.
Game Play
In my interviews and journey mapping, onboarding and learning the game’s rules was one of the biggest pain points. Users needed a seamless game play that didn’t require the user to be bogged down with reading a rulebook.
So I created a game play that had audio walk through that told users exactly what to do (with captions for deaf and hard of hearing folks).
Story and Discussion
National Parks After Dark is an educational story telling podcast. Each episode immerses listeners into the lives of each character. Users needed a game that would reflect that type of engaging storytelling.
So, I created an app that uses an algorithm to synthesize the results of each player's action in the game to generate a compelling story about what happened.
Players can then use this story to discuss each other's role and motives to deduce who is the Grizzly.
Voting and Results
Users needed a way to vote on suspects and view game results.
So, I created an easy way to vote with a consistent interface from previous parts of the game. After voting, users receive a pop up informing them of a win or loss which can be closed to view final game results.
See More Work
©2026 Abby Sheets