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Independent Game Designer

I grew up on simulation and strategy games such as Supreme Commander and The Sims series, as well as shooters including Medal of Honour and Call of Duty. I enjoyed the boom of mobile gaming with now-classics Flappy Bird and Jetpack Joyride and later found a deep love for story-driven games such as Bioshock.

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Whilst studying Creative Enterprise I built skills in design and presentation - making pitches about project plans throughout the development life cycle. I also learned how to communicate concepts and progress to a wide range of people.

For the past 6 years, I have designed, created and released many different games for many types of players across multiple genres. I have ran my own studio- Prey Interactive, giving me key experience in design and programming as well as working for Coatsink & Tombola.


When I am not making games, I am learning, playing games for research and enjoyment, conducting development workshops, or supporting events such as Game Bridge and Women In Games. I have made connections with many industry leaders in design such as Ken Levine (Bioshock), Bruce Shelley (Sims) and American McGee (Alice series).

Over the last several years I have learnt C# using the Unity Engine, and have released 7 games and made many prototypes to this day. Along the way I have learned a lot about design.

 

I enjoy taking a proactive approach to design, working with the various fields in development. Doing so has given me a greater understanding of possible challenges, time-frames, and choices available for each discipline.

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GAMES

- Created for Steam PC.
- Also includes a short mobile version.
- Received praise from Rock, Paper, Shotgun and other publications as well as full Youtube playthroughs.

A side-scrolling underwater RPG that spans across several huge pre-made areas. The game equips the player with a diver and submarine, with the various tools to explore the depths & survive the increasingly harsh environment.

Project Abyss

November 2016

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Spiritlands

March 2018

- Designed for Steam PC.

- Utilised Early Access.

- Released through Steam Greenlight.

Taking place over a perlin noise generated isometric map consisting of over 3000 tiles; players can collect resources and grow their land from a grouping of tents, to a bustling city with thousands of workers.

Players create work, defend and send their people to explore.

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DESIGN SKILLS

User Interface Design

I have made a wide range of User Interfaces that are well-suited for the games they are designed for.

Below are a few User Interface elements I have used:

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- 0-9 item slots

- Timers

- Touch controls

- World-space canvas elements

- Text boxes for narratives

- Nested menus

- Movable panels

- Animated card movements

- Clickable objects

- Interactive feedback

- Bars and buttons

- Main menus.

System & Technical Design

I have designed and created (including extensive documentation):

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- Cooperative functionality

- Card game systems

- Idle upgrade balancing

- Resource collection

- Level selection

- Varying progression

- Missions & Challenges
- Educational

- Tutorial

- Turn-Based strategy

- Management and building

- Survival mechanics

- Vehicles.

Level Design

Even games where the levels are placed more in the hands of the player have needed a lot of attention to level design.

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For each game, I thought about the challenges I was presenting - such as obstacles, enemies, and choices, and their placement in the world.

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It was also important that the world design be related to the story being told. The use of an underwater setting in Project Abyss led to adding waste as an atmospheric element to include the aspect of a modern crisis.

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The levels in each game had to be interesting, immersive, challenging and fit the narrative.

Narrative Design

Narrative has proven to be an important tool in at least framing many of the games I have designed. Whether it be based on a comic strip I briefed to an artist, voice lines I added at trigger points in levels, used to create entertainment during a tutorial, or simply used as an introduction to the game before the player takes the reigns of control such as in Spiritlands.

Character Design

Several of my games have included character designs that strongly influence gameplay and story-telling.

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For Guardians of Victoria, I chose a character-focused approach. Deciding to include 3 very different characters with their own skills to master to increases replayability of the same levels. One of whom became popular enough to be the star of Brella's Run.

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I always look at how the characters visually fit their environment's style, that they have a strong personality through visuals or the narrative, and they stand out amongst their personal opponents and the world they reside in.

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