Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Company: Jam City
Platform: Android/iOS
Tools: Proprietary Engine/Tools, Google Sheets/Docs/Slides, GIMP, Jira, Tableau, Unity (Prototyping)
- A randomized puzzle and exploration mechanic designed to improve engagement and retention
- Multiple in-game events with narrative tie-ins including a cross-promotional event for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- Progression system for leveling up the player's "mastery" of various spells for long-term engagement
- Built on an engine without a physics or collision system, I had to ideate and specc out a technically feasible approach as well as the Content and Art tools required to implement levels that was low-scope for all teams in order to fit within the defined timeline.
My Work:
- Pitch to team and IP partners
- Spec for feature, event, and Level Design/Art tools
- Prototyped multiple versions in Unity
- CI tested with players
- Modeled XP progression and rewards
- Implemented event for tech test
Fan-Made Gameplay Video
Creature Activities
Feature:
- A procedural-narrative, semi-idle mechanic in which players send their owned Magical Creatures on mini-quests
- Designed to add repeatability to the existing Magical Creature feature which relied heavily on new content releases (new creatures to adopt and care for)
- Based on randomized sets of criteria, players must select the creature best suited to the given tasks. How well the creature fits the criteria determines how well it can perform.
- At intervals throughout the quest, players receive procedurally-generated text updates about the creature's progress
- At some intervals, players have an opportunity to make choices to improve their creature's performance and earn better rewards
My Work:
- Pitch to team and IP partners
- Feature spec
- Modeling economy impact of new sources and sinks for various items and types of XP
Fan-Made Gameplay Video
- Led a team of game designers making levels/content for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery including delegating tasks, managing their time, and overseeing their growth
- Directed and reviewed implementation of levels to ensure all content were meeting our high quality standards
- Acted as level design team’s point of contact for new features, tools, quests, and more
- Collaborated with writers, artists, animators, engineers, QA, and producers to ensure a cohesive vision and ship story content on a weekly basis
- Worked with other teams to improve workflow and manage design scope
- Responsible for onboarding new game designers and improving documentation
- Planned future content and created mood boards to communicate the vision to other departments
- Pitched and wrote design documentation for new features, story quests, and tools for designers
Role: Associate Game Designer (Content)
Tools: Proprietary Engine/Tools, Maya, Google Sheets, Perforce, Jira, Confluence, Javascript, Python, Lua, Git
- Designed levels, staged & shot cinematic scenes in Maya and proprietary tools, including some of our biggest content in both narrative impact and scope
- Scripted gameplay, player interactions, cutscenes, events, and more
- Programmed new tools to expedite level design process and improve quality of levels and scenes
- Taught new game designers and wrote documentation to facilitate faster on-boarding for new team members across all departments