Game Design
Objective 1:
Demonstrate and communicate aesthetic skills and choices based on traditional art theory, current game development practices and next-generation research.
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.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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.
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to try to tell a story using a golf game, and designed the level in a full production-pipeline style, including a now-outdated papermap. The full level is available on steam to play!
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!
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
Objective 2:
Demonstrate and communicate aesthetic skills and choices based on traditional art theory, current game development practices and next-generation research.
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. The mechanics made specifically and designed for this level were the new arm-swapping method and overall movement, as well as a new enemy!
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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.
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.
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.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
Objective 3:
Demonstrate a cross-section of baseline skills needed to create 2D and 3D art, textures and animation assets utilizing industry standard software tools.
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!
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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!
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!
Objective 4:
Demonstrate the ability to build industry-quality game assets specializing in specific 2D and/or 3D art and/or animations utilizing industry-standard software tools, pipelines and platform guidelines.
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.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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.
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.
Objective 5:
Adapt, export, integrate, and optimize game art and animation assets (including shaders and lighting) into 2D and 3D game projects working within a production pipeline and the confines of a project’s game engine, tools and other constraints.
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.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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.
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!
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
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
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.
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
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.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.
The very final, now varnished version of the 32x32 Skull and lily painting.