Liubo Lab: Recreating an Ancient Game — Download on Itch

Role: Game Designer, Tutorial Writer, Programming Support
Time Frame: 14 Weeks (In progress, ending May 2023)
Skills: Board Game Design, Tutorial Design, Paper Prototyping, Playtest-based Iteration, Researching Similar Products
Description: Recreation of a board game played in China from 500BCE to 500CE. I led development of the capturing and blocking mechanics over several iterations and paper prototypes, based on extensive historical research into Liubo’s components and other games of the same time period. I also wrote our in game rulebook, helped run playtests for over two dozen players, and assisted with programming in Unity. 6 person team.
More Links: Watch Trailer, View Project Website

Duet: Game Pre-Production Project — View Project Website

Role: Lead Designer
Time Frame: 14 Weeks (Spring 2022)
Skills: Team Management, Cross-Discipline Communication, Pitch Development, Presentation Skills, Rapid Iteration
Description: Pre-production project to develop a game concept for a future production team. Final deliverable was a pitch deck and design documents for a 3D platformer in which the player plays music to both communicate with and magically heal a giant whale. I was in charge of two other designers, and helped lead them in designing mechanics and levels. I personally developed and delivered our final pitch presentation, which involved presenting new versions of our pitch to test audiences for feedback daily for multiple weeks. 7 person team.
More Links:
— View Pitch Deck (My section of a larger final presentation; I created, iterated, and presented the slide contents and pitch script; Art and slide theming by other teammates)
— View Introductory Level Design Document (I created this storyboard of our first game level to help guide the design team and explain our mechanics)

Genscape: VR Lucid Dream Art Experience — View Project Website

Role: Level Designer, Game Designer, Game Scripting
Time Frame: 14 Weeks (Fall 2022)
Skills: Level Design, Virtual Reality, Hand Tracking Interaction, Designing to Emotional and Visual Art Goal
Description: Experimental VR visual art experience for Quest 2, themed on lucid dreaming. I designed two of our main levels, the Cemetery and the Lake. I also designed and implemented many of the visual changes that occur in the levels as the player is guided through emotional stages from “curiosity” to “fear.” I also worked closely with an artist on the team to recreate a screen-wide “oil painting” effect from a flat-screen experience in VR. 4 person team.
More Links:
— Watch Playthrough (I designed Cemetery and Lake levels)
— View Design Summary and Postmortem (Just my sections of a larger, end of project summary and post-mortem document. Describes some of the game’s main mechanics, as well as lessons from several of our 14 weeks of iterations.)

The Keys of Obliteration: Multiplayer Battle with Real Piano — Watch Playthrough

Role: Game Designer, Programmer, Piano Owner
Time Frame: 3 Weeks (Fall 2021)
Skills: Local Multiplayer, Mechanic Balancing, Alternative Input (Piano), Live Audience Considerations, Playtest-based Iteration
Description: A 2 player soccer-like arcade game controlled by a full size MIDI piano keyboard. I led design of how to use piano input in our game, as well as working closely with our artists and sound designer to make sure everyone’s assets were implemented correctly. I also balanced and iterated a number of our mechanics, such as the shield and the player rate-of-fire, based on frequent playtest feedback about visual clarity and usability. 5 person team.