Jane Jensen (born Jane Elizabeth Smith; January 28, 1963 in Palmerton, Pennsylvania) is an American video game designer and author. She is mostly known as the creator of the '' Gabriel Knight'' series of adventure games, and also co-founded

Oberon Media Oberon Media was a multi-platform casual games company, delivering casual games across online, social, mobile/Smartphone, interactive TV and retail categories. Oberon games were adopted by global digital and media companies, such as Acer, Micros ...

and Pinkerton Road video game development companies. Jensen also writes under the name Eli Easton.

Early life

Jane Jensen was born Jane Elizabeth Smith, the youngest of seven children. She received a BA in computer science from Anderson University in Indiana and worked as a systems programmer for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Career

Her love of both computers and creative writing eventually led her to the computer gaming industry and Sierra OnLine where she worked as a writer on '' Police Quest III: The Kindred'' and '' EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus''. After co-designing '' King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow'' with veteran game designer

Roberta Williams Roberta Lynn Williams (; born February 16, 1953) is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, ''Mystery House'', became a modest commerci ...

, Jensen designed her first solo game: '' Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'', which was released in 1993. The dark, supernatural mystery was a departure for Sierra but the game was enthusiastically received, with the strength of Jensen's writing, along with the game's horror and gothic sensibilities coming in for particular praise from the gaming press and earning the ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

s "Adventure Game of the Year" award.Jane Jensen developer bio
at MobyGames. Jensen followed up ''Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' with two sequels: '' The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery'' in 1995 and '' Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'' in 1999. Somewhat unusually for an adventure game series, each ''Gabriel Knight'' title was produced in an entirely different format to the others. Whereas the original was a traditional 2D animated game, the sequels were realised through

full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

and a custom built 3D engine, respectively. Despite further acclaim for Jensen's design in both cases (''The Beast Within'' too was ''Computer Gaming World'' "Game of the Year"), the large expenses associated with making the sequels, coupled with the declining marketability of adventure games (especially within Sierra) meant that a fourth in the series was not commissioned. In 1997, Jensen published a novelization of the first ''Gabriel Knight'' game. A second ''Gabriel Knight'' novelization followed in 1998. In 1999, Jensen published her first non-adapted novel, ''Millennium Rising'' (later retitled ''Judgment Day''). Her fourth book, '' Dante's Equation'' was published in 2003 and was nominated for the

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

. Jensen has been involved in designing casual online games at

, of which she is a co-founder. Her work in the hidden object/light adventure category can partially be credited with moving casual games in the direction of full adventure games in puzzle and story sophistication. Some of her more notable recent games include ''Deadtime Stories'' (2009) and ''Dying for Daylight'' (2010). After leaving Oberon in 2011, she briefly worked at Zynga. Jensen's next big adventure game '' Gray Matter'' was developed by

Wizarbox Wizarbox was a video game developer based in Sèvres, France, southwest of Paris. They are notable for their graphic adventure games developed by industry veterans, such as the '' So Blonde'' series by Steve Ince (lead designer of '' Broken Sw ...

and published by dtp entertainment in 2010. The game, originally intended to be developed by Hungarian software house Tonuzaba, switched to another developer, French company Wizarbox in 2008: as a result, the tentative release was changed and shifted to 2010. Jensen was also a story consultant on Phoenix Online Studios' 2012 adventure game '' Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller''. On April 5, 2012, Jensen and her husband Robert Holmes announced the formation of Pinkerton Road, a new game development studio to be headquartered on their Lancaster, Pennsylvania farm. With this announcement, a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign was launched to raise funds for the studio's first year of game development. In 2014, Pinkerton released their first games, '' Moebius: Empire Rising'' and '' Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition''. Since 2013, Jensen has written gay romance fiction under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"Eli Easton". ''The Lion and the Crow'' was written for the Goodreads M/M Romance event "Love has No Boundaries" in 2013, and later expanded and rereleased as a second edition in e-book and audiobook.

Personal life

Jensen owned a farm in Pennsylvania where she lived with her husband, composer Robert Holmes, who composed the music for the ''Gabriel Knight'' series and ''Gray Matter''. They have since sold the farm and are currently living in the Puget Sound area of Washington state.

Works

Games

*'' EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus'' (1991) ( writer) *'' Police Quest III: The Kindred'' (1991) (writer) *'' King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow'' (1992) (co- designer, co-writer) *'' Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers'' (1992) (CD-ROM version) ( voice actor) *''

The Dagger of Amon Ra ''Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in The Dagger of Amon Ra'' (also known as ''Laura Bow II'') is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in ''The Laura Bow Mysteries'' line of adventure games, ...

'' (1993) (CD-ROM version) (voice actor) *'' Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' (1993) (designer, director, writer) *''

Pepper's Adventures in Time ''Pepper's Adventures in Time'' is an educational adventure game released in 1993 by Sierra On-Line. The project was based on a concept by Sierra VP of Development/Creative Director, Bill Davis, who also designed the game's main characters. This ...

'' (1993) (designer) *'' The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery'' (1995) (designer, writer) *'' Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'' (1999) (designer, writer) *''Inspector Parker'' (2003) (designer) *''BeTrapped!'' (2004) (designer) *''Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile'' (2007) (designer, director) *''Agatha Christie: Peril at End House'' (2007) (designer, director) *''Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet'' (2007) (designer, director) *''Dr. Lynch: Grave Secrets'' (2008) (designer, director) *''Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey'' (2008) (designer, director) *''Agatha Christie: Dead Man's Folly'' (2009) ( creative director) *''Women's Murder Club: Twice in a Blue Moon'' (2009) (designer, director) *'' Deadtime Stories'' (2009) (creator, designer, director) *'' Gray Matter'' (2010) (designer, writer) *'' Dying for Daylight'' (2011) (designer, director) *''

Hidden Chronicles ''Hidden Chronicles'' is a defunct hidden object social game developed by Zynga and released in January 2012. It's available for play on the Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American co ...

'' (2012) (co-writer) *'' Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller'' (2012–13) ( story consultant) *'' Moebius: Empire Rising'' (2014) (creator, designer, director, writer) *'' Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition'' (2014) (creative director, designer)

Novels

*''Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' (Roc, 1997) *''The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery'' (Roc, 1998) *''Millennium Rising'' (''Judgment Day'') (Del Rey, 1999) *'' Dante's Equation'' (Del Rey, 2003) *''Kingdom Come - An Elizabeth Harris Novel'' (Berkley, 2016) *''In the Land of Milk and Honey - An Elizabeth Harris Novel'' (Berkley, 2016)

Comic books

*''Gabriel Knight: The Temptation'' (Phoenix Online Publishing, 2014–15)

As Eli Easton

*"A Kiss in the Dark" (2013) (a novella part of ''Closet Capers'' anthology) *''Before I Wake'' (2013) *''The Lion and the Crow'' (2013) *''Superhero'' (2013) *''The Trouble with Tony'' (2013) *''Puzzle Me This'' (2013) *"Caress" (2013) (a novella part of ''Steamed Up'' anthology) *''Blame it on the Mistletoe'' (2013) *''A Prairie Dog’s Love Song'' (2013) *''The Enlightenment of Daniel'' (2013) *"Reparation" (2014) (a novella part of ''Stitch'' anthology) *''Heaven Can't Wait'' (2014) *''The Mating of Michael'' (2014) *"The Bird" (2014) (a novella part of ''Bones'' anthology) *''Unwrapping Hank'' (2014) *''A Midwinter Night's Dream'' (2015) *"Among the Dead" (2015) (a novella part of ''Spirit'' anthology) *''The Stolen Suitor'' (2016) *''A Second Harvest'' (2016) *''Falling Down'' (2016) *''Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles'' (2016) *''How to Howl at the Moon'' (2015) *''How to Walk Like a Man'' (2015) *''How to Wish Upon a Star'' (2016) *''A Second Harvest'' (2016) *''How to Save a Life'' (2017) *''Tender Mercies'' (2017) *''Snowblind'' (2017) *''Five Dares'' (2017) *''Desperately Seeking Santa'' (2017) *''Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride'' (2018) *''Boy Shattered'' (2018) *''Family Camp'' (2019) *''How to Run With the Wolves'' (2019) *''Angels Sing'' (2019) *''Christmas Angel'' (2019) *''The Redemption of River'' (2020) *''Billy and the Beast'' (2020) *''One Trick Pony'' (2021) *''Schooling the Jock'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2021) *''Coaching the Nerd'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2021) *''Head to Head'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2021) *''Betting on his BF'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2021) *''The Best Gift'' (2021) *''Hot Seat'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2022) *''Hot Wings'' (co-written by Tara Lain) (2022) *''Hot Pursuit'' (2022) *''A Changeling Christmas'' (2022) *''12 Days of UPS'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Official website of Eli Easton
Jane Jensen's pen name * * * *

Interviews

Alternative Magazine Online Interviews Jane Jensen on ''Gray Matter'', 2011

Alternative Magazine Online interviews Jane Jensen on ''Gabriel Knight'' 20th Anniversary Remake, 2013

Jane Jensen interview with GameSpot, 2007

Jane Jensen interview on adventure games at Adventure Classic Gaming, 2003

AdventureGamers interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Jane 1963 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American computer programmers American mystery writers American science fiction writers American video game designers American video game directors American women novelists Anderson University (Indiana) alumni Creative directors Living people Novelists from Pennsylvania People from Carbon County, Pennsylvania People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Sierra On-Line employees Video game writers Women mystery writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women video game designers