I’m a professional game developer with over a decade of game industry experience, with 4 years as a game designer. I’ve worked at various studios such as Zynga, Glu Mobile, and Ready at Dawn. My experience has primarily been focused on mobile game development, games as a service, and VR development. I enjoy refining and polishing gameplay mechanics so the final product will be compelling and engaging for the audience. Working with artists and programmers through rapid prototyping and various iterations to create fun games is my ultimate objective; it represents my passion and love for the industry.
Shipped Titles as game designer
Echo VR (Quest) - Ready At Dawn
My team was responsible for porting the Echo VR game to Oculus Quest. I worked with programmers to implement, test, and profile builds of the game. We looked at ways to optimize the game to maintain the Echo VR experience while keeping an optimal framerate and within specs on mobile. I also worked on designing the lobby to be cross-platform for Rift and Quest players to exist in the same play space.
Ultimate Chef - Glu Mobile
I was part of the team that built a game from the ground up for Glu Mobile in a genre that was new to Glu. I blocked out the game world to establish the game board and worked closely with the lead programmer to implement core features of the game such as the store, dish crafting system, and the quest system. It was a unique experience to be able to build a game from the ground up.
Castleville Legends - Zynga
On Castleville Legends I worked on the live ops team to create ongoing content for seasonal events. Using established systems my team would reskin items and mechanics with new quests and create new content. We created engaging events while accounting for players of different levels and the footprint (memory) on mobile devices. The game gave an interesting insight into live games and generating DLC content.
Game Jam projects
I like to participate in a couple of game jams throughout the year: the Global Game Jam and a local game jam in Portland called Summer Slow Jams (hosted by Pigsquad). I work on the game jams with my colleagues. On these game jams, I am responsible for the game design, gameplay and art implementation, as well as UI. I create the game design doc from an idea the group has agreed on, work with the programmers to establish the core game loop, then implement and iterate to refine the gameplay and finalize the art. Here are a few of the games created over the years.
Nimble and Brick - Global Game Jam 2022
This is a 2.5D side scroller. For this jam I wanted to create a polished and cohesive side-scrolling level with a completely 2D look. I also wanted to showcase the art in the level by having the background change to reflect the actions of the player.
Sky Shepherd - Global Game Jam 2021
This is an isometric “shooter”. I wanted to keep the mechanics simple with only one stick for movement and one button to shoot. Once the mechanics were established I created a variety of levels to keep the player engaged..
Robot Pitcrew - Global Game Jam 2020
This is a co-op party game. The players work as a team using a variety of tools to repair a robot before time runs out. The object of the game was to create a cooperative experience where players had to work together and communicate with one another in order to be successful.
Hiveland Security - Global Game Jam 2019
This is a 2D wave-based tower defense game (co-op optional). The goal of the game was to create a fun experience that ramped up in difficulty with surprises here and there to keep the player on the edge of their seat. One of the most polished jams I’ve worked on!
Carrier - Global Game Jam 2018
This is a split screen multiplayer PVP flight game. The goal was to create an asymmetrical pvp game where each team had different objects. One team has to reach the goal, the other must element the opposing team before they reach the goal.
Brawl Crawl - Summer Slow Jam 2019
This is a 2.5D co-op beat 'em up. We created a large crowd of AI for the player to battle against. What the game lacks in depth it makes up for with the sheer number of enemies, character variety, and punches! This was definitely a fun one to work on!