Game Development
This section highlights my contributions across both game development and gameplay design, showcasing the systems, mechanics, UI, narrative, and player experiences I helped create. It separates my technical implementation work from my design contributions while demonstrating how both areas came together to build each project.
Open For Play
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Open For Play *
The Eminence
The Eminence is a Rogue-Like combat game created as part of a 2024 Microsoft Internship project during the Microsoft Intern Game Jam, centered around the theme “Only One.” Players progress through waves of combat and are presented with two randomly generated clones, each with different stats. Players must choose whether to replace their current character with one of the available clones, creating a core gameplay loop centered around adapting to changing character abilities and stats. The project combines randomized character generation with wave-based combat to create an experience where each new clone can change how the player approaches the next encounter.
This project utilizes Godot, GDScript, Audacity, Pixel art, and Itch.io.
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Developed wave-based progression and difficulty scaling, ensuring a smooth curve that kept players engaged through multiple combat waves, with increasing challenges.
Conceptualized and implemented the build replacement system, allowing players to switch characters and select new builds after each wave. This mechanic added a layer of strategy, allowing players to experiment with different play styles.
Designed a 2D top-down camera system to complement the game play, providing players with optimal visibility and a smooth, immersive experience. Integrated UI elements for the start screen, end screen, and build selection to enhance the game's overall flow.
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Programmed core player mechanics in GODOT, including player movement, health, damage, and death systems, to ensure smooth combat flow and player interaction.
Coded the randomization of the build generation and removal logic, maintaining a balanced and evolving gameplay experience. This ensured that players could enjoy different strategies with each wave.
Developed enemy AI systems, including movement, health, and damage logic, contributing to the dynamic and challenging wave-based combat experience. Enemies adapted to player actions, creating a constantly engaging environment.
Santa’s Workshop Challenge: Precision Toy Assembly
Santa’s Workshop Challenge: Precision Toy Assembly is a toy assembly simulator created during the two-week ABK Veteran Holiday Game Jam. Players take on the role of elves working in a festive workshop, completing tasks such as wrapping, inspecting, and assembling toys while managing increasingly demanding production requirements.
The game features escalating levels that introduce challenges such as item shortages, production pile-ups, and defective toys. Players must manage these disruptions while working within holiday deadlines, creating a gameplay loop focused on precision, time management, and adapting to changing workshop conditions.
This project utilizes Unity, C++, Photoshop, Blender, Trello, Itch.io, and custom sound effects.
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Programmed core player controls and interactions, including elf movement, object pickups, and task performance (assembly, inspection, wrapping) using Unity and custom input systems.
Developed a conveyor belt system that dynamically spawns toy parts and tasks, incorporating random errors and defects to keep gameplay fresh and challenging.
Implemented real-time mechanics for scoring, timers, and error tracking, ensuring that obstacles like pile-ups required immediate player intervention and affected progression.
Optimized performance by ensuring smooth gameplay despite multiple interactive systems running concurrently.
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Designed multi-level gameplay with escalating complexity, incorporating roles such as Wrapper, Inspector, and Assembler within the toy assembly environment.
Spare Parts
Spare Parts is a fast-paced game created during the GMTK 2024 Game Jam with the theme “Built to Scale.” Inspired by early 2000s Cool Math Kids games, players fight enemies to collect parts and use them to build their city, combining light combat with city-building progression.
The project focuses on connecting combat and city development through a straightforward resource-gathering system, with a nostalgic presentation inspired by classic browser games.
This project utilizes Unity, C++, hand-drawn assets, Adobe Illustrator, Audacity, Trello, Plastic.SCM, and Itch.io.
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Developed environmental rule sets that impacted combat and overall gameplay, creating engaging environments that provided both challenge and player agency.
Worked closely with the artistic team to optimize the layout and asset requirements for environmental assets, ensuring that the game’s aesthetic matched the intended design and gameplay functionality.
Conceptualized the environment's layout, including building positions and locations that served narrative and gameplay purposes.
Prototyped three variations of the environmental layout, testing each to determine the best player experience, game pacing, and mechanics.
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Planned and designed the in-game economy, including available resources, spending mechanics, and resource circulation, to ensure the gameplay loop was balanced and engaging.
Adjusted upgrade costs, drop rates, and probability parameters to maintain an economy aligned with playtest feedback, ensuring it was neither easy nor difficult for players to progress.
Created comprehensive documentation outlining the economic systems, including rules, resource flows, and probability rates for future iteration and adjustments.
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Built out basic player controls, and collection system
Developed basic UI elements for early warning systems
Packed Away
Packed Away is a narrative-driven puzzle game created for the Out of Office Game Jam 2025 with the theme “Everything Must Go.” Players take on the role of a professional tasked with clearing out an abandoned trailer, where an unexplained presence interferes with their work. As they sort through the space, they uncover clues about its former tenant and the circumstances surrounding its abandonment.
The project combines environmental exploration, item sorting, and narrative discovery to gradually reveal the mystery within the trailer. The game was developed as a contained experience within the game jam's two-week development period.
This project utilizes Unity, custom music, custom assets, and Plastic.SCM.
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Developed the game’s introductory, reset, box, and ending dialogue to guide players through the narrative while reinforcing the mystery surrounding the trailer.
Designed the box-labeling and completion-tracking systems to clearly communicate player progress and support the game’s sorting-based gameplay loop.
Shaped the game’s narrative flow and presentation, coordinating environmental assets, UI elements, and narrative beats to create a cohesive exploration and puzzle experience.
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Implemented core player movement and win-condition functionality, establishing the foundational systems for navigating and completing the game.
Imported, configured, and integrated final game assets into Unity, connecting environmental assets to interactive boxes and implementing custom sound effects and music.
Developed box labels, completion tracking, splash and end screens, and narrative UI triggers for the introduction, first reset, and ending sequences.
UEFN - Unreal Engine with Fortnite
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UEFN - Unreal Engine with Fortnite *
Play Tests - Into The Verse
Play Tests - Into the Verse was a project created for UNCG to host a Game Jam in partnership with Epic Games. Participants utilized Unreal Engine for Fortnite within 48 hours to build creative levels and mini-games. Our Team created an RPG Tower Climber and roguelike with branching paths, offering different challenges, resources, and environments based on player choices
Power Suit
Trust Fall is an exciting 360 Rocket Racing course featuring dynamic loops, alternative paths, and a Rise-Fall Mechanic, all aimed at enhancing the thrill and challenge of the racing experience. The track is designed to engage players with fun, fast-paced driving mechanics.
In Development
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In Development *
Power Suit
Power Suit is a short game style created to experiment with boss level mechanics and designs. In this level players navigate a high-tech server room, overcoming a series of traps and minions while unlocking the main room to face the ultimate challenge. Along the way, they must dodge freezing TVs, drones, and other hazards while strategizing to defeat enemies and reach their goal.
Power Suit currently has completed enemy movement, player controls and core environmental design as well as puzzles mechanics. Our goal is to finalize the boss area mechanics as well as the UI before pushing our first demo launch.
This project utilizes Unity, C++, Plastic.SCM, Prefab, Sketchfab, and Unity Assets
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Designed the maze-like server room environment, ensuring it was challenging yet rewarding for the player to navigate.
Developed key gameplay elements, including generating environmental obstacles and maze navigation challenges that promote player decision-making and problem-solving.
Optimized environmental features for interaction, including combat areas, trap placements, and visual cues that guide the player’s progression through the level.
Created a full breakdown of the level's duration and pacing, detailing how the stage grows over time and the different stages, movement patterns, and goals for each enemy type.
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Implemented core game mechanics, such as player damage, movement, combat systems, and level switching, to ensure smooth and responsive gameplay.
Programmed the behavior of enemies, including movement, spotting and tracking the player, drone targeting, and clone attacks, to create dynamic combat encounters.
Created and designed overlays and visual feedback, such as door triggers, combat indicators, and boss damage counters, to improve player awareness and immersion in the environment.
Household Rules
Household Rules is a third-person RPG puzzle game inspired by Little Nightmares, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Fran Bow. The game emphasizes learning through trial and error rather than traditional tutorials, creating an eerie atmosphere centered around exploration, mystery, and unexpected interactions. Players must uncover the rules of their environment and learn how to break them, with the story and puzzles working together to gradually reveal the world around them.
Household Rules currently has a functional reset feature that triggers under specific conditions, returning the player to the beginning of the day. The project also includes an elevated camera perspective designed to mimic the experience of playing with dolls inside an open-faced dollhouse, as well as the foundational environmental setup for the demo puzzles. Our goal is to continue developing the core puzzle mechanics and environment while preparing the current build for demonstration.
This project utilizes Unity, C++, Plastic.SCM, Prefab, Sketchfab, and Unity Assets.
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Ensured smooth room transitions and aligned the map layout with both the narrative and puzzle structure, enabling a seamless experience for players to follow.
Implemented four key object-based puzzles that unlocked new areas, integrating logic and environmental challenges to push the narrative forward.
Placed NPCs (e.g., Aunt, Cousin, Monster) throughout the game and programmed their movement and behavior. Ensured that breaking the rules resulted in consequences, creating tension and driving the story.
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Designed a system for breaking the rules, where players could trigger resets and set up challenges for future attempts.
Developed physics-based movement and object interaction mechanics, ensuring that all actions were reactive to the player’s choices and encouraging experimentation.
Managed item use and swapping mechanics tied to the rules system, where specific objects became essential in breaking the rules or achieving goals.
