How an AUT Graduate Is Redefining Storytelling Through Gaming

FEATURE | ISSUE EIGHT | SCREENS

Alejandro Davila & Faeborne

For most students, gaming is a way to procrastinate after class, unwind with friends, or disappear into another world for a few hours. For AUT Creative Technologies graduate Alejandro Davila, however, it eventually became something much bigger: an opportunity to create immersive worlds of his own.

Enter the world behind Alejandro’s screen: Faeborne.

Faeborne is a story-driven action-adventure game following an elven warrior crossing a fractured world in an attempt to bring her sister home. Through gameplay elements such as the Lantern of Memories, battling ancient golems, and restoring fallen guardians, players are immersed in a fantasy world filled with mystery, exploration, and discovery.

The game is being developed through CONICAL, a New Zealand-based creative technology studio working across AR, VR, games, animation, and interactive experiences. What began as a passion for creative technology and emerging media during Alejandro’s studies at AUT has since evolved into a growing studio helping shape Aotearoa’s creative technology landscape.

This year, Alejandro and CONICAL also received support through an AUT Ventures’ Tīmatanga | Initiate grant. Working alongside AUT Senior Lecturer Gregory Bennett from the School of Art and Design, the project explores the creative processes behind Faeborne’s development through technologies such as Unreal Engine and virtual production, while experimenting with new approaches to interactive media and screen production.

One of the most exciting parts about CONICAL is its continued connection back to AUT itself. Over the years, the studio has become a launchpad for AUT graduates entering the creative technology and interactive media industries, giving emerging creatives opportunities to contribute to real-world projects across interactive media.

The studio has also worked on projects for organisations and New Zealand brands including Spark, KFC, and NZ On Air, creating valuable industry experience for graduates looking to establish themselves in the sector. At a time when many students are questioning how creative passions translate into real-world careers, CONICAL reflects the diverse opportunities emerging within Aotearoa’s screen, gaming, and interactive media industries.

"Being able to tell stories with tools like Unreal Engine, and to immerse audiences inside those worlds, still feels unreal sometimes," Alejandro says. "Being able to create opportunities for other AUT graduates to grow in this space alongside me is another really rewarding part of it."

If you want a taste of Faeborne in person, Alejandro and CONICAL will be showcasing their work at the highly anticipated AUT Innovation Showcase 2026 on Thursday 3 September. The event will give students the chance to experience projects like Faeborne up close, alongside a range of other exciting research and innovation zones to explore.

But while we wait for September to roll around, students can already support the project by wishlisting Faeborne on Steam. You can also learn more about the game and follow its development at https://www.conical.nz/faeborne/