Game Development - Game Designer & Programmer

     Despite my main area of expertise being UX, I have tried several different roles throughout my academic career.  My first experience with Game Design and Programming was when I joined CTIN-489: Intermediate Game Design Workshop and worked on Blue Lips.  It was a project-based class that required a pair of students with an audio team to complete a full demo during the span of one semester. I picked the role of an artist without prior experience, hoping to improve my skills throughout the course of the semester. The class required me to quickly pick up new skills via practice and research, as I was responsible for puzzle design, narrative design, and artwork, all of which were new to me. Still, I was able to adapt quickly, motivated by weekly playtests and regular meetings with the team. In the end, the demo was completed with me creating over 100 sprites, several unique mechanics such as Ghost Possession, and over 15 unique puzzles.

    CSCI-426: Game Prototyping was another class that contributed to a huge jump in my Game Design Skills.  The class required randomly assigned student pairs to create fully playable prototypes with novel mechanics every week. One of my prototypes, Harvetsant, was selected as a final project to be expanded by a 4-person team. As the project grew larger, my role changed from a Game Designer and Programmer to a UI Specialist as I focused on creating an easy-to-use menu that complemented the disorienting gameplay. Random pair assignments required me to be able to communicate and collaborate with team members of different backgrounds and skill levels, improving my ability to work in diverse teams. Lastly, taking up the role of the Designer and not my usual role of UX Researcher helped me understand certain aspects of the development process, allowing me to provide more specific suggestions in later UX studies.