All my life I’ve been a fierce force of imagination, persistence, and hard work: like a dragon hunting for gold. But instead of treasure, I’ve been searching for stories to tell and ways to make an impact.

Born in Belarus, I studied journalism in Bulgaria and worked in marketing in Russia, but storytelling has always been my true passion. I create narratives that allow people to explore fresh perspectives in a safe, immersive way.

As a queer, neurodivergent woman from a patriarchal country, I’m passionate about shedding light on complex topics through my work. Over the years, I’ve designed more than 100 LARP games, written 10+ original tabletop campaigns, and worked as a script supervisor on the short film Mein Name Akim (2024), which tells the story of transgender refugees in Germany.

During my MA in Serial Storytelling at IFS Cologne, I honed my skills across genres, working on solo projects as well as collaborating in Writers' Rooms.

Currently, I’m co-developing a visual novel game with a co-author as a passion project.

Now that I've completed my degree, I’m eager to bring my creativity to TV and gaming, crafting stories in both English and German.

Dragons never stop breathing fire. And neither do I, with an endless flow of ideas and stories I can’t wait to share.

Alena Lysiakova

🎧 Too much sound can ruin your audio game.

Audio designers love layering: music, background ambience, footsteps, breathing, radio static, wind, distant sirens, and emotional underscore. 

And suddenly your “immersive experience” feels like standing inside a broken washing machine. 

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most people don’t play audio games in perfect silence. They’re commuting. Cooking. Walking. Folding laundry. 

Audio storytelling competes with real life. If your game requires 100% concentration at all times just to understand what’s happening, you’re designing against the format.

Cognitive overload is real:
🐲 Constant SFX + dense dialogue = fatigue
🐲 Overlapping voices = confusion
🐲 Permanent music bed = emotional flattening
🐲 No breathing room = listener burnout

Immersion doesn’t come from “more sound.” It comes from intentional sound. Silence matters. Contrast matters. Clarity matters. Design audio like oxygen.

Good audio narrative design respects the listener’s brain, because the worst experience isn’t “hard,” it’s exhausting.

#NarrativeDesign #AudioGames

Alena Lysiakova 🐉

Narrative designer and screenwriter ▶️ Let's create stories that make an impact

Not every choice needs to derail the plot. 👾 


But every choice should change the experience.

In audio games especially, meaningful choices aren’t always about branching into entirely new storylines. They’re about shaping how the story feels to the player.

Good choices can:
🐲 Shift tone (kind, cautious, reckless, ruthless)
🐲 Redefine relationships and trust
🐲 Change how the player sees themselves in the story
🐲 Unlock bonus lore or small secrets that reward attention

One of my favorite design approaches is building narrative branches as journeys between fixed plot points. The destination stays the same, but the path there changes who you are when you arrive. The agency lives in letting the player leave their fingerprints all over it.

👉 If a choice makes the player think, “This felt like me,” then it worked, even if the plot stayed exactly where it was.

#NarrativeDesign #AudioGames #GameWriting

Dating used to be awkward dinners and nervous eye contact… now it’s co-op bosses and shared loot drops. 🎮💘

In my latest article, I dig into why playing together is becoming the new dating, and how games are quietly reshaping connection, chemistry, and even heartbreak.

👉 https://lnkd.in/eU6XgMn8

If you’re into storytelling, relationships, or just fascinated by how games intersect with real life feelings, this one might hit a nerve.

#GamingCulture #Storytelling

Open article: Why playing together is the new dating by meer.com

Quick reminder: besides writing stories, I also help other people write theirs. 🎧✍️

I’m opening a few free coaching spots this month for storytellers:  screenwriters, game writers and copywriters or anyone trying to untangle their plot at 2am. 

👉 If you want sharp feedback, practical tools, and zero sugarcoating (but lots of support), hop in.

Open article: ADPList: Get mentored by Alena Lysiakova 🐉 on ADPList by adplist.org

ADPList: Get mentored by Alena Lysiakova 🐉 on ADPList

The uncomfortable truth about writing for audio: sometimes experience gets in the way. 🐲 


I coach a lot of writers transitioning into interactive audio, and I keep seeing the same pattern: the more experienced the writer, the harder it can be to adapt.

Not because they’re not talented, but because they’re used to controlling the frame.

In audio, you don’t have visuals to lean on. You don’t have text people can reread. You don’t have cinematic shortcuts.

You have a voice. Timing. Space. Silence. Choice phrasing. Cognitive load.

And if you try to force screenwriting logic or prose logic onto audio without adjusting, the story simply doesn’t breathe. 

💡 Audio is a different architecture. It demands different pacing, different exposition control and different emotional calibration.

That’s why transitioning with a coach helps. Not because you don’t know how to write, but because someone needs to point out the invisible friction early.

You can read all the documents you want. Clarity usually comes when someone listens and says, “This works. This doesn’t. And here’s why, specifically for audio.”

Different medium requires different muscles. And once they click, audio becomes addictive.

#NarrativeDesign #AudioGames #StoryCoaching

Feel Good Murder TV was on 🔥 in 2025. Is it still so?

That TV trend that feels strange to explain but makes total sense once you experience it. 🐲 

In my latest article, I explore why feel-good murder shows are suddenly everywhere and why audiences are strangely into it.

👉 https://lnkd.in/euAhfDMu

If you’re interested in how tone, genre expectations, and emotional hooks shape modern storytelling (especially in TV), this one might make you rethink what “comfort viewing” really means.

#Storytelling #TVTrends #MediaAnalysis

Open article: The rise of feel-good murder TV by meer.com

Choices without context aren’t suspenseful. 💀 


They’re just guesses.

🐲 When a player is asked to make a decision, they need enough information to imagine possible outcomes, not the exact result, but the shape of the risk.

Take this:
“Should he hide or confront the burglar?”
That’s not a meaningful choice. It’s a coin toss.

Now compare it to:
“Hiding is probably the safer choice, but what if he can stop the thief right now? Should he hide or confront the burglar?”

Same options. Completely different experience.

💡 The second version gives the player something to weigh: safety vs. action, fear vs. responsibility, risk now vs. regret later.

Good narrative design isn’t about revealing consequences. It’s about framing decisions so the player can reason emotionally, not randomly.

#NarrativeDesign #AudioGames #GameWriting

In visual games, players always know where they are. There’s a map, a UI, and a quest log. Basically, something grounding them.

In audio there is nothing like that. Which means if you don’t deliberately build structural anchors, your story starts to drift.

Structural anchors are recurring elements that help listeners orient themselves without realizing it.

It could be:
🐲 A specific location you return to
🐲 A character who always reappears between major beats
🐲 A ritual moment (a radio check-in, a diary entry, a nightly call)
🐲 A recurring sound cue that signals transition

These anchors are architecture. Without them, scenes blur. Branches feel random. The player doesn’t feel lost because the plot is confusing; they feel lost because there’s no spatial or emotional reference point. Audio needs repetition with intention.

When players hear that familiar voice, that recurring space, that structural checkpoint, their brain relaxes. Orientation returns. Engagement stabilizes.

#NarrativeDesign #AudioGames

Alan Price Coaching

I help highly successful leaders create lasting positive change in others through transformative change within themselves. Each person is unique in what matters most to them and what true greatness will look like in each area of their lives. Truly great people strive for greatness in all areas.

The Coach

BlueLine Studios Inc.

Out of stealth now. We just released our game Hanx101 Trivia exclusively on Apple Arcade

Director Of Operations

The Immersive Technology Alliance (ITA3D)

President of the Board of Directors for the Immersive Technology Alliance (formerly the S-3D Gaming Alliance).

President

Co-Active Training Institute

The most rigorous and respected coach training program in the industry. Accredited with the ICF, considered the "gold standard" of coaching by the McLean Harvard Institute of Coaching.

Certified Professional Co-Active Coach

Vision Critical

Lead R&D and Product development. Vision Critical is a continuous customer insights solution provider that enables organizations to drive better business outcomes while ensuring world-class customer journeys

CTO, Head of Product Strategy

Fuel Powered

Directing, team leading, and demon coding an online mobile SDK platform that is highly dynamic and easy to integrate. Fuel Powered has created an online challenge, tournament, and dynamic live event platform for top tier mobile developers that increases engagement and retention in existing and new games.

Company was acquired by Animoca

Co-Founder and CTO

Epiphination

Epiphination provides consulting services in product development, operations and technical leadership to the video games and SaaS industries.

Digido Interactive

Digido Interactive creates useful games and digital experiences that change the way we work and play. We are currently working on products at the convergence of children's health, video games, and ubiquitous computing

Founder and Chief Propellerhead

Electronic Arts

CTO of the EA Canada studio responsible for the overall technical direction of the studio’s AAA EA SPORTS titles (FIFA Soccer, NHL Hockey, NBA LIVE, EA SPORTS Active, Fight Night and others)

Group Technical Director - Soccer Franchise

Group Technical Director - Gen2 Sports Titles

Technical Director

Senior Software Engineer

Rockwell Software

Software Engineer

Successful leaders in tech hire me to go from restless, unhappy, and trapped to powerful, intentional and fulfilled by rediscovering purpose and going beyond fitting in.

✦ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗗𝗼? 
Leaders work with me to unleash an UNLIMITED LIFE. In 8 weeks they find meaning in their work, and lives and reignite their passion for greatness.

✦ 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵? 
I work with high-performing leaders who have been greatly successful yet ask themselves “Why do I still feel deep inside that I was meant for more?” They sacrifice more than needed in their personal life and achieve less than wanted in their professional life. They want greatness in all areas (work, relationships, inner growth) and confidence they are utilizing all their capabilities and gifts. 

✦ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁?
Those who strive for greatness want it to be in all parts of their life, long-lasting and aligned with their principles. 

They want a solution that will remain present and working and not a quick fix on a superficial level. They want a solution that permeates their whole life, not just something that exacerbates imbalance. They understand it will be hard work and not something they will gain by reading a book, using an app, or going to a seminar. 

They demand that their uniqueness, experience, and capabilities are understood and it is not a one size fits all solution. They want to work with somebody whose experiences mirror their own.

✦ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝘆 

"It's been life-changing for me and my career, and it's time for me to let others around me grow and shine for their future."

✧✧✧ Wijarnarko ✧✧✧

"Alan was absolutely amazing to work with and quite honestly, working with him changed my life. He helped me see possibilities that I didn't know were possibilities."

✧✧✧ Nicole ✧✧✧

“If you're looking to become a better leader, a better partner, and/or a happier, better version of yourself, give Alan a call. You won't be disappointed.”

✧✧✧ Melissa ✧✧✧

✦ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸? 
You will work to uncover the foundational pieces that are underutilized or are blocking your path to greatness. You will work on all aspects of your life at the same time and carry lessons from each to the others. You will work directly with me in 1:1 live sessions that will deepen the long-lasting learning. You will know that your experiences are being understood by someone who has shared the same pressures and experiences of success that you endure. You will learn that you don’t have to sell out to succeed.

✦ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗧𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸? 
Book a 30-minute virtual coffee chat to find out what coaching can do for you. 

https://go.oncehub.com/APVirtualCoffee

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The Battle

Alena Lysiakova

Alan Price

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taplio

The Battle

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Alan Price

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alena Lysiakova's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreAlena Lysiakova's LinkedIn Performance