Jane Jensen papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 119.4188

Staff Only

The Jane Jensen papers are a compilation of game design bibles, scripts, and other documentation on games written and designed by Jensen. Games include Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, and Gabriel Knight: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, as well as Gray Matter and Moebius. For additional scope and content information, please see the Contents List section of this finding aid.

The Jane Jensen papers are arranged into two series. The physical papers are housed in one archival document box. The digital files are accessible on-site at The Strong.

Dates

1995 - 2012
Majority of material found in 2012

Creator

Jensen, Jane (Person)

Language

The materials in this collection are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Digital files in this collection are available to on-site researchers only.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is open for research use by staff of The Strong and by users of its library and archives. Though the donor has not transferred intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to any copyright, trademark, and associated rights therein) to The Strong, she has given permission for The Strong to make copies in all media for museum, educational, and research purposes.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)

28.2 Megabytes (Digital materials (Accessible on-site at The Strong))

Additional Description

Abstract

The Jane Jensen papers are a collection of game design bibles, scripts, and other documentation on games written and designed by Jensen. The majority of the materials are from 2012.

Biographical Note

Jane Jensen is an American video game designer and author, best known for her adventure games including the Gabriel Knight series.

Jensen (born Jane Elizabeth Smith) earned a B.A. in Computer Science from Anderson University in Indiana. After graduation, she initially worked as a software engineer for Hewlett-Packard but was soon hired as a staff writer at Sierra On-Line. Jensen worked on documentation and dialogue for several games at Sierra before co-designing King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow with Roberta Williams. In 1993, Sierra published Jensen’s first solo game, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, a point-and-click adventure game about a bookstore owner and horror novelist who investigates a series of local murders. The game received high praise from game reviewers, as well as the go-ahead for a sequel at Sierra. The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery was released in 1995, produced entirely in full motion video. The following year, Jensen began designing the third Gabriel Knight title (ultimately the final adventure game to be published by Sierra). Over the next decade, she continued developing games for various companies, including Oberon Media and Zynga.

In 2012, Jensen and husband Robert Holmes established Pinkerton Road Studio to focus on graphic adventure games. They announced a project on Kickstarter to fund the development of two games; following a successful campaign, Pinkerton released their first games (Moebius: Empire Rising and a 20th anniversary edition of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers) in 2014.

Jensen has designed, directed, or written more than two dozen video games. She is also an accomplished novelist under the names Jane Jensen and Eli Easton.

System of Arrangement

Series I: Physical game design documentation, 1995-2002

Series II: Digital files, 1995-2012

Custodial History

The Jane Jensen papers were donated to The Strong in October 2019 as a gift of Jane Jensen Holmes. The papers were accessioned by The Strong under Object ID 119.4188.