I specialize in deep mechanical design, overlapping simple systems and uplifting them into emergent behaviors. Whether they're game mechanics, ecologies, or even social and cultural norms, I think and breathe in systems.

My secret sauce includes planning and managing resource flows — sinks, faucets, and crafting mechanics — as foundational parts of the design, interlinked meaningfully into every action a player can take.

I've designed the gamut from steep incremental game loops to entire economies based on currency-less barter. I've also taken my expertise beyond games into the prediction markets space, consulting on the economy designs for Manifold and Playmoney.

When analyzing and designing combat systems, I focus on deep modularity. The goal with any system is to have clarity and simplicity while layering them together to create complexity and emergence, and it's even more important in combat designs due to how fundamental they are to games that use them.

Whether it's literal puzzles or level flow (every good level is a puzzle, don't you think?), I excel at taking simple tools and mechanics to their limits to foster the joys of anticipation, surprise, and achievement.

My first career was in theatrical lighting design, and it remains close to my heart. I derive great pleasure from using simple but dramatic lighting techniques to accentuate tonal and emotional impact, elevating the player experience.

While I'm a systems-focused designer, my education was in literature and I still have a soft spot for a well-crafted story. Games allow us to do storytelling in ways that are impossible elsewhere! I often lean on dynamic storylets and emergent narratives in my own work.

My favored engine of late. Quick, light, versatile. I keep up with all the updates and actively keep multiple personal projects in it to build even more fluency.

I built my career in Unity and still use it professionally as needed, since it's a powerhouse that's hard to beat on how full-featured it is. I'm very literate in C#. Among my past projects, I worked as the technical lead on an architecture team that used Unity to build a massive in-house platform for making MMOs.

I've developed, published, or consulted on projects for just about every platform out there. Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Xbox, Playstation, Switch, ad infinitum. Distros I've personally interfaced with include Steam, App Store, Google Play, itch, Kartridge, GameJolt, and more I'm probably forgetting.

Tabletop games offer such wonderful design constraints that I frequently throw together tabletop prototypes, whether as full games in their own right or as paper prototypes. It's hard to hide gaps in the fun when building with cardboard and I believe any designer should hone their craft by working in that space from time to time.

Bouncy, dynamic, minimalist, ornate? You bet. I understand game engine UI tools like 9-slicing so you don't have to and can hack in everything from massive smart grids to tooltips and worldspace UIs even when they have moving parts!

I haven't specialized as one of those wizards who spend all their time making custom shaders, but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty whether it's in visual shader graphs or digging into the meat of the HLSL or GLSL code directly.

Maybe this is an odd addition for a portfolio section, but I'm so in love with the JUICE of tweens and stuff them into everything I can that I'd be remiss to ignore them here.

I have quite broad 2D skills. I'm able to handle the production and pipelines of many art styles, though I tend towards either pixel art or vector art in my own solo projects for ease.

There's no hiding that I prefer 2D when working on personal projects, but don't mistake that for a lack of fluency with 3D architectures. Unlike with 2D, I'm not a proficient 3D artist, but I'm fully capable of stepping in on rigging, animation, and all the 3D infrastructure needs when called for.

When given my druthers, many of my designs focus on the slow moments. I favor exploring themes of ennui, despair, and catharsis: deep existential pain hand-in-hand with the serenity of understanding and acceptance.

If my shot is Contemplative, my chaser is Chaotic. I find that juxtaposing the quiet moments with absolute insanity makes both so much more poignant. The smallest games don't need both, but the pairing is exquisite.

I'd be remiss to not briefly mention that gdscript and C# are by no means the only languages I've worked or dabbled in directly on my projects over the years. The list is very long, but java, javascript, ink, and non-"code" formats such as JSON, xml, and html are semi-frequent visitors to my text editors.

Jeg kan også taler meget meget lidt Danske og 東京に住んでいたので、少し日本語が 知っています, but that's not what we're talking about.

I've been leading teams in different industries for decades at this point, usually favoring a subtle servant leadership style. I was raised from a young age to be a "natural leader" and was given many opportunities to build my practice, but I've made a point to intentionally mature my skills by choosing non-leadership roles at times. I'm also not shy of jumping into the talk circuit when needed.

Whether it's via JIRA, Trello, Codecks, good old sticky notes and whiteboards, or something else entirely, I get tasks managed and teams moving with the right methodology, be it Agile, Waterfall, or something truly bespoke.

Community management and administration is key in our spaces, and I'm fluent in it as a user, moderator, and administrator over the years on Slacks, Discords, and various forums.