I've been interested in game systems since I was very young. The first system I remember experimenting with was the materia system in Final Fantasy VII. Now I can't stop inventing my own systems and coming up with fun interactions for players. The best part about building system is the iterative process and watching the system grow and evolve. Below are a few systems from my portfolio that I designed and / or built. 

Mowin' & Throwin'

For the last two years I worked as the associate producer at House Pixel Games. Since our studio was so small, I took over several production responsibilities to ensure we met internal deadlines, found music and SFX to fit our game and budget, had adequate quality assurance, and made sure we had a fun, safe, and less stressful work environment. All documents related to my production work are under NDA at House Pixel Games so unfortunately I cannot post examples on this portfolio.
Role: Co-founder, Game Designer, and Associate Producer
Studio: House Pixel Games 
Team Size:  7 - 13
Development Time: ​2 years
Work Schedule: ​40 Hours / Week
Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Game Summary

Play as lawn gnomes and wreck your neighbor's yard by throwing rocks, fertilizer bags, and psychedelic mushrooms. Race around in a nitro boosted mower to pickup grass and blast unsuspecting opponents with its hidden tank cannon. Mowin' & Throwin' is great to play with friends, family, or people you only sort of like. The experience is best played locally, but is playable online through PARSEC on the PC version of the game. The game is available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop. 

Mowin’ & Throwin’ is a competitive lawn mowing experience where the objective of the game is the have the LEAST amount of grass on your lawn before time runs out. Mow down the competition in our 2v2 or 1v1 game modes. Customize your experience by choosing between two zanny gnome avatars as well as their hat.

Systems I designed and Implemented 

  • I came up with a gameplay balance system to make sure matches were close and intense. This really deserves its own section, but the TLDR is that the items that spawned on the lawn were selected randomly, which lead to imbalanced matches. I put on my technical design hat and came up with an item selection system that still maintained a little randomness, but restricted the system from unfairly dropping items that would give a team an unfair advantage (ie. preventing 3+ gas cans from dropping in a row). Additionally, we came up with a 'lose bad system', which changed the randomness for the team that falls far behind, giving them a bit of an unfair distribution of items to allow them to catch up. This system, play tests, and constant tweaking resulted in matches that are consistently close and intense. 
  • I added a customization system to help players identify their avatar during matches. In the game jam version, players were allowed to choose between unique lawn mower designs. Though I really loved this feature, it became complicated since both teammates share the lawn mower. Instead of devising a system where two teammates had to choose a single mower, we decided to add character customization, which helped players to identify their avatar before the match began. In the full release, players can pick between four gnome avatars (2 male versions and 2 female versions). Additionally, players can customize their gnome by selecting between five unique and silly hats. 
  • I created Tank Mode and Boosting to enhance the fun of using the lawn mower. Through usability testing we found out that driving the mower was not fun. Mowing was a means to an end because it was the most efficient way to remove grass from the lawn. Tank Mode allows players on the mower to shoot grass bags at the enemy team to either stun gnomes or to grow a bit of grass. The sabotage element was one of the most fun parts of the game so we decided to give players who were on the mower the ability to sabotage by adding this feature. Additionally, I added a boost system to the mower later to help improve the fun factor. While boosting, the mower will move faster at the cost of higher gas consumption. Though this feature doesn't necessarily add to the fun factor of the mower (I know this from usability testing), it creates opportunities for players by allowing them to quickly mow grass in clutch moments and avoid items being thrown at them. These and other little nuanced surprises enhance the game's 'easy to learn, but difficult to master' design by rewarding players who take the time to discover and try new and different interactions.  
  • I concepted, created, and experimented with additional throwable items to create more interesting sabotage interactions. In addition to updating the visual quality and communication of the items from the game jam, we added a few new items and experimented with a ton more. I added the rock and mushroom to the game, which are really fun sabotage items. We experimented with items like the monstrous plant, a dog leash (tether), fires, and hot potato grass bombs. We had usability tests with a lot of these items, but they did not make it into the final version of the game because of a lack of gameplay communication, balance, and fun factor. Communication was one of the biggest hurdles when it came to item design. We did not want to rely on players reading every bit of tutorial text so we spent extra care trying to communicate each item's function before and after throwing it. Rocks, fertilizer, and gas were pretty obvious, but our more outlandish items struggled to meet the communication standards we set for ourselves as witnessed during usability tests. Time was not on our side so I decided to have a few well designed items as opposed to many sort-of fun items. ​

Space Command

​Space Command is a single player 3D top-down turn-based strategy prototype set in space built using Unreal Engine 4.10.0. Players interact with the game’s pieces on top of a hexagonal grid and play against another opponent hot-seat style. Each player can move, rotate, and attack with their ships as long as they have enough action points. The player that destroys their opponent's fleet wins. 

In addition to the Unreal Engine project, I created an equipment system where players can upgrade their ships by equipping crew members that add abilities and change the stats of ships. I developed this concept using a paper prototype to start testing and balancing all of the combinations of abilities and stat changes. 

Design Goals

  • I concepted and created a dynamic turn-based combat system with ships that dealt/received damage depending on their position and orientation because I thought that this would make for a good tactical game mechanic 
  • I created a paper prototype to test initial ship stats, game interactions, ship movement/rotation, and how damage is dealt. This allowed me to balance the gameplay, plan how game systems will be set up in UE4, and envision what type of UI/UX is needed.
  • I created data systems for ship stats in UE4 and input the data from initial paper prototypes. These data systems made creating new ship designs and iterating on existing ships quick and easy 
  • I created a rapid prototype using Unreal Engine 4 using minimal art to begin testing the game's features and balance early 

Project Leviathan 

Project Leviathan  is a unique survival city building game where you get to take command of The Leviathan - a giant moving island big enough for a city. Decide how you want to use your limited resources as you navigate your city through a lonely desolate world filled with a seemingly endless ocean of sand. Uncover the past, interact with different societies, build your city, and survive as you collect clues that guide you towards the promised land. Do you have what it takes to bring your commonwealth salvation? Or will your island sink into the unforgiving sand sea? ​

Design Goals

  • I wanted to combine survival mechanics with the city builder genre. This is where I came up with the idea of building a city on an island where there is limited space and limited resources. The challenge became balancing resources to make sure there were enough for players to build an amazing city and to survive the scenario 
  • To combat some of the difficulties of balancing resources, I came up with the idea of the island moving. Players still have to spend resources to move the island, but there is a good chance they can find other colonies and land masses to exploit resources. 
  • I also really enjoy imagining what type of people and culture builds around this type of city and situation. I started designing systems where players will have to react to societal issues, train / appoint specialists to buildings, and a tech tree that enacts policies that effect how the population regard their leader