Game Design
Objective 1:
Prototype and complete original games for multiple platforms following the full game production pipeline
Magman
Magman is a short game concept I made in Construct 3 about a small sentient ball of lava that sacrifices previous versions of himself to make a bridge across dangerous, cold waters in order to reach his next small pool. This game was made within the scope of “failing to succeed” and was a great challenge to take on.
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This demonstrates my ability to create a game inside of Construct, utilizing in-engine tools and a full 1-week production pipeline.
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Game: Here
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Platform: Aseprite, Construct 3
Mother Cosmopolis
Mother cosmopolis is a nighttime city level that takes place on an infinitely large motherboard and is themed as such. This full game level, including a final boss was concepted and completed in under 6 weeks. The full game includes 3 types of enemies, 6 items obtainable from chests, and 2 weapons for the player to use while they explore the 2-path city streets of Mother Cosmopolis.
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This project demonstrates my ability to create a full game foundation and level within a 6-week timeline, following the full production pipeline, including a papermap and Level Design document
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Level Design Document (with papermap): Here
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Video: Here
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Platform: Unreal Engine 5
Fossil Man
Fossil Man is my in-progress map made entirely within Terraria using both gameplay and an external tool called T-edit. This map was made to tell an entire story within the confines of Terraria, and was fully concepted and completed up to test 6 in 6 weeks. This process required a lot of external testing to ensure my target audience was able to complete the map and have fun while doing so. The full map is playable as well!
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This project demonstrates my ability to learn and adapt to a new external editor to create a map in a game without a sandbox mode. This was also a great demonstration of my ability to tell a story through gameplay.
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Level Design Document: Here
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Full Playthrough: Here
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Platforms: Terraria, T-Edit
A Walk in the Woods
A walk in the woods is my full adventure map made entirely in the Golf It! Editor. I decided to try to tell a story using a golf game, and designed the level in a full production-pipeline style, including a now-outdated paper map. The full level is available on Steam to play!
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This project shows my ability to tell a comprehensive story through gameplay again, but within the production pipeline associated with the in-level editor of Golf-It! This project is proof of my ability to adapt to in-game engines to follow industry standards.
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Full Playthrough: Here
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Flythrough: Here
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Platform: Golf It!
Objective 2:
Create and implement game elements, systems and play mechanics using industry-standard tools, techniques and production methods, including art or scripting/programming applications
Axis Software Urban Server
Axis Software Urban Server is a Frutiger Aero-themed level that takes place on a giant computer motherboard. This level contains dozens of assets all concepted, drawn, and created in 3D voxelated software before finally being optimized and imported into Unreal Engine. This level serves as a playground for the player, themed around the open-ended exploration and progression inspired by Risk of Rain 2’s levels.
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​This game level demonstrates my ability to implement game elements like art and programming within an Unreal Engine 5 project to coincide with my level and systems design.
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Playthrough: Here
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Platform: Unreal Engine 5, Magica Voxel, Blender
Eggs On Toast
Eggs on toast was a game made in just under 4 days with the theme around “morning routine.” This game was concepted, designed, programmed, and then artistically crafted by me, including the shaders. This UE5 game is complete with a start and end screen, multiple endings, and fun, balanced gameplay about making breakfast.
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This game demonstrates my ability to create high-quality assets for a game to accentuate my design within the project, as well as my ability to follow professional production pipelines while doing so.
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Video: Here
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Platform: Unreal Engine 5
Mercy
Mercy, or Space Mercenary, was a game that I made in just under 4 days under the theme of “Chain Reaction.” The game has a full start and end screen, and focuses on the explosions from destroying space police ships, which causes other ships to be destroyed in the explosion, and so on.
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This game demonstrates my ability to create and polish industry-level assets and program systems based on this design challenge, all while using industry-level tools.
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Video: Here
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Platform: Unreal Engine 5
Wrap-It-Up
Made for the 2025 Global Game Jam, Wrap-it-up was one of my most polished Game Jam games that I worked on in a very small team to make. For this project, I did all of the 3D art, game design, and all programming and UI implementation.
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This game demonstrates my ability to create programming foundations and polish as well as polished art assets for a game revolving around a musical-design.
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Itch: Here
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Video: Here
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Platforms: Blender, Unreal Engine 5
Objective 3:
Demonstrate effective game design practices and techniques within the project scope and context, such as genre, style, platform and audience
Fossil Man
Fossil Man is my in-progress map made entirely within Terraria using both gameplay and an external tool called T-edit. This map was made to tell an entire story within the confines of Terraria, and was fully concepted and completed up to test 6 in 6 weeks. This process required a lot of external testing to ensure my target audience was able to complete the map and have fun while doing so. The full map is playable as well!
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This map demonstrates how I create a map or level based on my target audience and platform, by deisgning a map made for fans of the game, but still friendly for beginner players.
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Full Playthrough: Here
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Platforms: Terraria, T-Edit
Brick by Brick
Brick by Brick was a doomscrolling-themed game made by team 1 of Tongue-in-Cheek Productions LLC. For this game, I worked on the UI, background, and foreground art, as well as the game design. To properly design and theme the game, a specific audience had to be kept in mind, as the game would not appeal to an extremely wide audience. A lot of research was done to properly tone this game, and all in under a week!
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This game jam game demonstrates my ability to design a game around a specific demographic without sacrificing gameplay or vital design. BbB s made specifically for people within "the know" of the context, and is carefully catered towards this target audience.
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Game: Here
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Platform: Unity
Risk of Rain: Survivors of the Board
Tasked with bringing a game with no current tabletop version to a physical form, Risk of Rain, survivors of the Board was born. This board game version of the popular indie game relies on the main mechanics of the original by focusing on the main gameplay loop: Fight enemies, open chests, collect loot, and beat the boss to progress. This version relies on the enemies having a simple turn of their own, and still allows players to hoard each other's items just like the source material. This version was made before the new Risk of Rain board game was announced, which actually features very similar gameplay!
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This board game demonstrates my ability to transform a game into a physical variant of itself while keeping the platform and demographic in mind. This game had to be transformed while keeping the pace and action of the physical, but is captured well.
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Video: Here
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Platform: tabletop gaming, real life
Objective 4:
Demonstrate the ability to evaluate game designs for a variety of gameplay mechanics, game applications and game genres
Rethinking Death
In some games, death isn’t very forgiving to the player, so what if we added an alternative? I chose to rethink the mechanics of Risk of Rain 2, Astoneer, and Ultrakill to try to envision a workaround for their death mechanic, while also staying within the theme, scope, and gameplay that these titles offer.
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This game study demonstrates my ability to deep dive into how a game's death system works in order to redesign these d=fundamental systems while still matching the style of the game.
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
1st Person Risk of Rain 2
To understand why a game chooses a certain perspective, you must know what it would look like and control like from a different one. Risk of Rain 2 takes place from the POV of a camera a little high above the players’ heads, but what if it were in 1st person? Here, I detail the changes that would need to be made and explain why the devs chose the perspective they did.
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This game study demonstrates my ability to define why games choose the perspective they chose, and dive into what changes would need to be made to allow for this separate perspective
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
What makes a good game?
This document is my deep dive into analyzing what properly makes a game a “good” or enjoyable one. Here, I delve into reverse engineering why controls, visuals, vision, polish, and reason make a game feel amazing to play, and talk about games that provide that for all players who play them.
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This game study demonstrates my ability to explore why games are considered good by reverse engineering just whjat makes players like them.
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
Objective 5:
Effectively articulate game design elements and mechanics across disciplines utilizing written and verbal communication skills
Ouroboros Protocol: Game Design Document
This is the entire GDD for my in-progress game: Ouroboros Protocol. This game utilizes each and every one of my talents to create an entirely new and unique roguelike experience, and will continue to be updated with every new skill I learn. This full GDD covers everything from character concepts to the game’s target demographic and even full level concepts.
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This game design document demonstrates my ability to plan out every stage of a game, including ithe ntended audience, level design, systems design, and even character sheets, and communicate it all well in an organized fassion.
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
Brick by Brick: GDD
Brick by Brick was a unique, doom-scrolling themed game made for GMTK 2025 by team 1 of Tongue-in-Cheek Productions LLC. Within this team, I and a few others detailed this game design document to help communicate over the short 4 days that we had to complete the game. The GDD was the framework from which we built the game, and the reason our teamwork was so successful.
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This game design document demonstrates my ability to work within a team to communicate our ideas effectively in a quick game design document to help produce a game within a very short timeframe.
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
Cookin' Up Spells: GDD
This is the full game design document for my game idea: Cookin’ Up Spells. This concept, inspired by games like Potion Crafter and Overcooked, is about a small wizard and his towering henchman working together to serve customers ordering different types of spells while trying not to stifle one another’s work. These spells rely on crafting with additive and subtractive colors to complete orders, all while dealing with heavy asymmetry in gameplay. This full game design document was created and concepted alone, and was made for a challenge to involve both color and asymmetry in design. Overall, this Game served as a great practice in masking an asymmetrical game, and will be in development relatively soon!
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This game design document demonstrates my ability to plan out a systems-design-challenge-based game in a concise and well organized document to communicate the challenge cohesively
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Document: Here
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Platform: Google Docs
Objective 6:
Establish collaboration, mentorship, and professional leadership skills by working with other disciplines to deliver highly polished and completed projects.
Project: Katalyst
Project Katalyst is a currently in-progress game I am developing through Tongue-in-Cheek Productions LLC. As both an artist and the current Design Lead on this project, I have had my hands on both physical assets and design behind all major aspects of the game.
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This project represents my ability to take a leadership role in an industry-level project and collaborate with other teams to continue to deliver a high-quality product.
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Platform: Unity, Blender, Substance Painter
Wrap-It-Up
Made for the 2025 Global Game Jam, Wrap-it-up was one of my most polished Game Jam games that I worked on in a very small team to make. For this project, I did all of the 3D art, game design, and all programming and UI implementation.
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This game jam game represents my ability to work well within a small team to create a highly polished project within the tight confines of a weekend-long jam
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Itch: Here
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Video: Here
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Platforms: Blender, Unreal Engine 5
Ground Up: The UE Starter Kit
Made for my student innovation project, Ground Up: UE Starter Kit was made in collaboration with YouTuber LordKevep to create everything a developer would need to make a 2D or stylized game in Unreal Engine. I personally created all assets for this project aside from Kevep’s pixel-perfect camera shader, and I reformatted all assets to work in tandem. This shader, camera, and model pack is now available on the Fab store.
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This market-ready product demonstrates my ability to work with an industry professional and use their work in tandem with mine to create a tool for designers and artists alike in UE5.
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Video: Here
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Page: Here
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Platform: Unreal Engine 5, Blender​​
John Lemon and the Ghastly Hassle
Made for the Unite the Valley Game Jam, John Lemon and the Ghastly Hassle was a challenge in using pre-existing assets to create an entirely new game. My work on this game was in systems design, level design, art, and camera implementation.
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This project demonstrates my ability to work in a team as a lead design and artist role to create a game within the confines of the asset packs provided.
Platform: Unity
