Pig & Chikin
In a world where pigs have wings and can fly, Pig loses her wings in an accident and desperately wants them back. Her dear friend, Chikin, hops on her back and acts as her wings as they go on a journey to learn how to fly again. Pig & Chikin is a 3D platformer where the core movement abilities get weaker as a metaphor for aging and physical disability.
This is my MFA thesis project from the University of Southern California. To be released on Steam in Fall 2024.
Try Again
I worked as a designer on an Advanced Games Project at USC Games called Try Again, a 2.5D platformer. I designed, prototyped, implemented, and iterated upon the ‘conveyor belt' level under the direction of the director and lead designer. Skills included Unity + C#, Autodesk Maya, and Notion. Playable on Steam.
Level Design Reel
I created three levels in Unreal Engine 5 to practice level design techniques. This video showcases those levels in various states throughout the iterative process, including a blockmesh level as well as two levels with final art.
Walden, a game EDU
I worked as a level designer and QA tester for the development of educational modules derived from the award winning Walden, a game. These educational games are being played in schools across the country to supplement curriculum around Henry David Thoreau’s writings. As an Annenberg Graduate Research Assistant working in the USC Game Innovation Lab, I designed and implemented the layouts for quest objectives and performed extensive QA testing. Skills included Unity + C# and Asana.
Wild Thaw
A game where the player takes control of a small flame that can burn objects around them to gain fuel and get bigger, but if they expend too much energy, the flame goes out. The goal is to melt the ice crystals and restore balance to the environment. As co-director, my role involved development on all fronts from ideation, prototyping, design documentation, and the many steps of production through to Alpha, Beta, and release candidate milestones. Made in collaboration with Yue Wang for a class at USC Games taught by Richard Lemarchand. Developed in Unity + C# and Blender, Playable for free on Steam.
Music by Austin Leshock & Sound Design by Tomas Ortola Stange
Design documentation:
Monadnock
Monadnock is a short 1st person experience created for a class at USC Games under the prompt - a navigable space that tells a story. This journey is a contemplation about my father, who recently became quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury. The player character moves from a cozy yet abstract bar to a deep cave where a wheelchair awaits them gazing out upon a lonely mountain. This was developed as a solo project in Unity + C# with original music by Jake Psenicka.