I'm a game designer currently looking for a full-time associate-level design position.
​
If you want to learn a bit more about me you can click on the about page above.
​
Click on one of the buttons or pictures below to read about a project.
LATEST PROJECTS
A card game I designed. The goal was to sell the theme of being a pirate. I used the game Coup as a framework for the mechanics and made changes to reinforce the pirate theme.
​
Below is a list of the mechanics and changes made.
Lost Treasure Cards
Goal: To give players a variety of Pirate-like actions to do in the game
​
System: A series of Pirate items that give players a one time use action with a variety of different thematic bases.
​
Changes: Originally I included defensive cards which could be used to prevent Mutinies or even deflect them onto someone else. This caused Mutinies to feel less powerful to use and also extended the play time significantly. In addition, the play patterns of some players ended up being very defensive where they would gather resources and never attack because they could fall back on their defensive cards.
Pirate's Code
Goal: Make an easy to learn card game with a short play time.
​
System: Design a simple core loop that can fit on one card so it can be learned easily and quickly.
​
Changes: The game play time was longer than intended, which was a pretty big problem for a while. I tried changing the price of cards and mutinies but players indicated that the game was too fast or unfair. Eventually I settled on giving each player another action to do on their turn, which sped up the game significantly while also giving the players a feeling of more agency.
Gambling Dice
Goal: Give players the risk/reward feeling of a pirate lifestyle.
​
System: Have players gamble for their main source of income. Two 0-1-2 dive are used because it is more common to land on middling values and has a low chance of both high payoff and no reward at all. Since 0s and 6s are less common, the good or bad feeling associated with the roll is amplified by the rare chance that it happens.
​
Changes: Tried different ways of giving players a main source of income like looting pirate ships to make the game more interesting. I found that adding a more complex system for income both made the game too long and ditracted from the other systems in the game that were more important.
Rubies
Goal: To give players a currency to fight over, spend, earn, and steal.
​
System: The cost of most actions in the game was turned intending for players to earn and spend quickly to evoke the fast earning and spending lifestyle of a pirate.
​
Changes: Players began holding onto Rubies for as long as possible, trying to amass a fortune so they could attack players all at once. Originally I tried to solve this problem by having a maximum cap for Rubies, but players felt punished for trying to gain wealth. Eventually I added a couple lost treasure cards that target the player who holds the most Rubies to create conflict between players and not at the game.
Rum/Cargo Space
Goal: To come up with a fun twist on the Coup system of tying lives to the amount of actions available to a player.
​
System: Players lives are depicted by the amount of Rum cards they have face up. If a player is mutinied they lose the Rum available to them and gain a Cargo space. Lost Treasure cards are kept in Cargo spaces between turns. This serves as a rubber banding system, giving players with less lives more available actions.
​
Changes: Originally players could Mutiny whoever they wanted as long as they had the funds. This changed because players discovered it was possible to have 3 players gang up on one player and all Mutiny them in a row without the target having a chance to respond or recoup. The solution I designed was a White Flag system that gives players a defensive buff until the next Mutiny, preventing multiple attacks on the same person before their turn.
I also eventually added some advanced rules to the Cargo cards for people who have played the game enough times. The more advanced rules include a set of buffs that come with in opening up certain cargo spaces, adding a strategy to which one you start with or free up later.
