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Alexander Brazie
Alexander is a game designer with 25+ years of experience in both AAA and indie studios, having worked on titles like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Ori and The Will of The Wisps. His insights and lessons from roles at Riot and Blizzard are shared through his post-mortems and game design course. You can follow him on Twitter @Xelnath or LinkedIn.
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Game Progression and Progression Systems

Nuanced overview of game progression, progression systems and how to go about intentionally creating it to better serve the players from a game design and development perspective.
Picture of Alexander Brazie
Alexander Brazie
Alexander is a game designer with 25+ years of experience in both AAA and indie studios, having worked on titles like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Ori and The Will of The Wisps. His insights and lessons from roles at Riot and Blizzard are shared through his post-mortems and game design course. You can follow him on Twitter @Xelnath or LinkedIn.

What is Game Progression?

In game design, game progression is how a game’s levels, mechanics, systems, narrative and rewards work together to provide the players with a sense of forward momentum and achievement through a fundamental cycle of completing goals with rewarding outcomes over time in order to ultimately increase player retention.

This can range from picking up Mario’s Tanooki Suit to leveling up a Pokemon to finding a Relic in Castlevania to unlocking new moves in Street Fighter 6. Each one unlocks new gameplay options, encouraging players to push through any difficulties.

This process of increasing challenge alongside increasing player competence/ability/power is central to game progression.

Here are a few more game progression examples to reference:

  • Unlocking a new level in Super Mario Land
  • Leveling up a character in Dragon Age Origins
  • Picking up a new, more powerful weapon in Halo
  • Unlocking free skins in Fortnite
  • Collecting new armor for cosmetic or collection reasons

These elements are examples of game progression because they act as both a reward and an incentive to continue playing. They propel the player forward with the carrot-and-stick technique.

Why Does Game Progression Matter in Game Design?

Game progression is foundational to player retention and engagement but is often underestimated. It is a unique blend of systems and content design that engages and keeps us playing.

We play games to go on a journey. Game progression systems help achieve this by structuring play, establishing reward criteria, and compelling us to keep moving forward.

Game progression also intersects with one of gaming’s most compelling aspects: The ability to respond and change based on player input.

Games allow for choices, consequences, autonomy, and progression in a way impossible in other media. Yet, too often, game designers underestimate the importance of game progression systems.

The truth is, without a sense of meaningful progression, no game (no matter how fun the gameplay, how beautiful the visuals, or how interesting the story) can retain player interest.

What are Progression Systems?

Progression systems are rewards and game mechanics that guide players toward completing goals, learning the game, unlocking content, and staying engaged.

All effective progression systems deliver on these three player experience goals:

Goal 1: Make players feel productive

Game progression systems tap into the human itch to be productive, revealing new mechanics and systems as we master old ones.

New elements are often introduced at a point in the game where the challenge increases, making that new element central to moving forward.

Goal 2: Make players feel powerful

Humans are wired to enjoy an increasing challenge as they increase in skill. The desire to showcase new powers, abilities, or understanding to achieve more is deeply rooted in our natures.

Correctly pulling off a powerful new move or implementing an effective new strategy is fun for its own sake.

Goal 3: Present an evolving challenge

Game progression systems are essentially ways of increasing player retention and engagement by navigating the thin line between frustration and boredom.

If a game is too simple or easy, we switch off. If it’s too complex or difficult, we switch off for a different reason.

image19

However, these curves aren’t always smooth—and often work better when they aren’t:

image13

With increasing difficulty, leading to moments of relief, sets players up to take on the challenge ahead.

There are many ways to navigate this line, and different people respond to different types of progression systems.

Here are a few examples:

  • WoW’s deep character progression systems allow players to think about and plan their build—even while away from their computer. Players set long-term goals for their character builds, making the grind to get there meaningful and worthwhile.
  • The linear level and world progression of Super Mario World is a more immediate, casual progression system. It encourages further play by presenting successful players with exciting new areas to explore.
  • Unlocking new cars by winning races or completing episodes in Forza Horizon 4 is an immediate reward that also helps players complete more challenging races.

Effective game progression systems require game designers to clearly illustrate and reinforce what progress looks like in-game while making its pursuit feel worthwhile.

If you remove all the context, they all in some version of a challenge, solution, and reward loop like this:

image2

Here is how they look like in the player’s linear perspective:

image16

To the players, the steps that define progress must be clear, and taking those steps must feel satisfying, which ultimately leads to an overall deeper gameplay.

So how do progression systems impact a game’s depth?

Let’s examine this in the context of these two Ubisoft games.

1. Farcry 3 (deeper experience): Its loop of hunting, crafting, and upgrading your gear includes enough action and fun mechanics to feel rewarding and it brings you closer to readiness for your next big combat encounter.

Here is a simplefied example of what Farcry 3’s progression loop look like:

image14

These progression systems make the next major goal feel more surmountable and engage the core gameplay of traversal and combat, adding to the experience and deepening a player’s sense of connection to their equipment and the game world.

Now, comparing this to…

2. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (shallower experience): Here, the endless cycle of upgrading to aesthetically identical but (marginally) statistically better weapons and armor gets old quickly. It doesn’t feel like a baked-in part of the game but an idea bolted on later.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s progression loop looks something like this:

image7

So Why Does This All This Matter in Game Design?

Game progression is important because in order for a game to be enjoyable, a player must recognize the patterns and actions that represent progress and want to act on that pattern recognition, which ultimately retains the player’s attention.

This means from a business perspective, the longer you can retain your player base’s attention, the more likely they will spend money in your games, which ultimately leads to high average life time value per player (assuming the game has tasteful monetization mechanisms).

Keep in mind that no amount of player retention tactics can over come overtly boring or frustrating progression systems.

☝️ To prevent this, use this…

Engaging Progression Systems Checklist

As you design your progression systems, ask yourself these four questions:

1. Do they introduce new gameplay elements sequentially and logically?

Game designers must find ways to introduce players to new mechanics without overwhelming them with options or difficulty spikes.

This is where game progression systems come in, balancing complexity and challenge with potential boredom by increasing difficulty as the player progresses. In this way, progression systems help to define a game’s difficulty curve.

For example, when I worked on World of Warcraft, we intentionally introduced very basic spells early on. Later, at higher levels (once the player had mastered the basics), we introduced more complex spells that required more skill interplay.

Immolate is a basic Warlock spell that deals damage over time. Its power gradually increases as the player levels

Higher-level abilities use synergies and interplay that demand more knowledge from the player.

For example, using Immolate and Incinerate together has an effect neither spell produces alone. With Immolate active, casting Incinerate generates extra resources (Burning Embers) for the player in addition to dealing damage:

image11

image17
(Source: Cynwise)

2. Do they guide the players forward?

When the parameters of forward momentum are clear, players are less likely to get frustrated. We all want to feel like we’re doing better than yesterday and are ready for tomorrow.

Video games tap into this desire.

For example, in an RPG, quickly dispatching enemies that were difficult several levels ago gives us a sense of achievement. But it also signals that we can overcome future obstacles with a similar investment of time and effort.

Returning to Elwyn Forest after gaining several levels in classic WoW allowed players to feel their power:

image15
(Elwyn Forest in Wow – Source rockpapershotgun.com)

Similarly, facing enemies far stronger than you can hint that you might need to retreat, change strategies, or find a clever way around.

In both cases, a game’s progression systems inform the player of their status relative to the enemies and gameworld, guiding them forward.

3. Do they overlap with the game’s core loop?

A combination of progression systems defines a game’s core loop by demonstrating and reinforcing what’s necessary to successfully complete the game.

A game’s core loop is foundational to its progression systems. Without an engaging core loop, no amount of additional progression systems will make a game fun.

Each new unlock, reward, or option in the game’s progression systems should meaningfully affect gameplay and gently tip the balance in the player’s favor.

When I worked on Ori and the Will of the Wisps, adding new skills and powers dramatically unlocked new areas, movements, and ways to engage in combat.

Depending on their style or preference, players can focus on becoming better at traversal, increasing damage output, or increasing the drop rate of Life Orbs (among many other options).

Here’s the layout for Inkwater Marsh (the first area after the prologue) with all the Spirit Shards marked on the map:

<em>(Source: Polygon)</em>

As you can see above, the game’s level, enemies, and overall game progression worked together to consistently test Ori’s abilities in a new environment. By the time the player has thoroughly explored Inkwater Marsh, they have the tools to move on to Kwolok’s Hollow.

The game’s progression systems regularly grant new rewards that eventually help you overcome the final boss.

4. Do they give players feedback on their time invested?

Game progression allows players to see tangible results for their invested time, whether through spending currency, buying player homes, or unlocking new skills and skins.

In this short love letter to Stardew Valley, YouTuber James Likes Games explains how a relatively simple game from a solo developer captured the world’s imagination through fun progression systems:

Note: If you answer is yes, then you’re 80% there. If not keep iterating until you achieve all four points above.

With that said, there are multiple progression systems are layered together to provide a single seamless experience.

Let’s go over them real quick before getting into the how.

The 5 (General) Types of Progression Systems

In the earliest graphical video games, game progression systems typically meant exponentially increasing difficulty. Enemies got faster, the pace increased, and the player had to keep up.

The only type of progression was player skill progression. By putting in time (and quarters), players could improve muscle memory, learn a game’s patterns, and see their progress represented on the scoreboard.

More sophisticated games have led to many sub-types of game progression systems, but the purpose of each remains the same: Engage players and compel them to keep playing.

They generally comes in these 5 types:

1. Horizontal Progression Systems

image1

Horizontal progression systems present players with options like spells and abilities as rewards for play. RPGs with new skill options on level-up are examples. Typically, all of the available options are of similar power but may synergize well with other specific abilities/builds.

For example, when I worked on Ori and the Will of the Wisps, we included horizontal progression elements that helped players traverse the environment and made their playthrough feel unique.

After successfully completing a zone, players have the following options:

image5

Any of these options might make sense, depending on where the player is in their playthrough (or what their current build looks like).

Players looking to increase damage output might choose the weapon upgrade, those having trouble with traversal/combat might choose the Spirit Shard, and those eager to find every secret might take the map purchase.

The original Guild Wars also included a lot of horizontal progression. That game’s max level was 20, and players arrived there relatively quickly. The fun was in unlocking new skills and seeing how they synergized with your existing build and other players. (Hence the nickname “Build Wars”.)

The fun part of horizontal progression systems is that they encourage players to interact with the game in new ways. When presented with a new option, players must consider:

How can I use this to progress the game?

Horizontal progression systems fall flat when players feel overwhelmed with options, or the available options don’t feel useful in the game.

2. Vertical Progression Systems

image10

Vertical progression systems depend on scale rather than options to make players feel more powerful. In RPG terms, this means your character becomes more powerful as the numbers go up.

WoW’s leveling system includes a lot of vertical progression. As the number next to your equipment and level increases, your character becomes incrementally more formidable.

The upside to vertical progression systems is that they make it easy to show your players how much they’ve grown. (Backtracking through a completed area in an MMO usually achieves this.)

The downside to vertical progression is that it can begin to feel like a treadmill, where increasing power is matched by increased difficulty—and nothing changes. Rather than a proliferation of exciting new options, players only see a slow, steady increase of an arbitrary-feeling number.

3. Player Progression Systems

Pro players of fighting games, FPSs, racing games, and any other kind of competitive twitchy game have developed real-life skills and muscle memory, which are measured in reaction windows.

image12

They started their chosen game as novices and have progressed in ability through consistent practice.

3.1. Skill Progression Systems – In games with a lot of combat gameplay (like fighting game), how well the character on-screen attacks depends on how well the player inputs the commands.

Here, in what many consider the greatest moment in competitive fighting game history, Daigo (Ken) initiates a series of perfectly timed blocks to come back from near death to victory:

(Please excuse the potato camera quality—this was 18 years ago!)

Success like this requires player progression in the form of real-life skills. Developing these skills means spending time in-game.

Here are some key points about skill progression:

  • Games with low levels of abstraction (i.e., when player skill defines success), like fighting and racing games, demand player progress through learning movesets, timing, and patterns. To progress, the player must improve their physical skill.
  • Playing this type of game may still unlock new characters, opponents, and arenas, but the primary vector for success remains skill progression.
  • Some games (like the Borderlands series) feature both player progression and an RPG-style abstracted character progression system. Your real-life reflexes and aim are important in addition to the bonuses offered by your stats, abilities, and equipment.

3.2. Knowledge Progression – Games like RPGs, RTS, and 4X Strategy feature high levels of abstraction. This means the player’s characters, armies, bases, and other units grow in power and ability as the player progresses.

However, this doesn’t mean the player can’t improve their chances by learning a game’s systems and mechanics.

For example, a veteran Total War player with an underpowered army will beat a raw novice with more powerful troops every time.

Knowledge progression is necessary to fully implement all of some games’ options and mechanics.

Interestingly, knowledge progression is possible even when not playing. We’re all occasionally guilty of looking at build guides and tips when we should be working or studying.

4. Character Progression

image4
(Sephy’s Level-Up Screen From Final Fantasy III – Source: uxbooth.com)

Character progression leverages game mechanics to reinforce the development and growth of the player’s avatar(s) over time. Players can achieve this using horizontal progression, vertical progression, or a combination of both.

Games like CRPGs and turn-based RPGs feature a high level of abstraction and consequently don’t require as much player skill progression. In these games, the reward for time invested is an improvement of an avatar’s skills and abilities—not those of the player.

In many RPGs, how well a character attacks is unaffected by how well the player presses the attack button. Success or failure depends on the ability value of the character, not the player. (Although with knowledge progression, players learn strategies, synergies, and combos.)

With their roots in Dungeons & Dragons, most RPGs are based on character progression.

Character progression can be subdivided into two categories:

4.1. Ability Progression – This occurs anytime a player’s avatar gains, improves, or optimizes options in the game world. It can look like gaining a temporary ability through a power-up in Mario or unlocking a new spell option in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Ability progression is horizontal progression when players choose a new skill or ability as their reward. Choosing instead to incrementally increase the damage/power of an ability is a form of vertical progression.

4.2. Level Progression – Progression through leveling up has its roots in tabletop RPG systems. These systems typically track experience points (XP), allowing players to level up once they reach a predetermined figure.

Each level-up can involve horizontal progression in the form of new abilities, vertical progression in the form of increased stats—or a mix of both systems.

Most RPGs also assign levels to armor, equipment, spells, and abilities. Players can’t access these options until their character level reaches the corresponding level of that equipment, spell, or ability.

5. World Progression

World progression involves guiding players through a sequence of levels, stages, or worlds. Each stage is typically accompanied by clear missions, objectives, or goals that must be achieved within its parameters.

Platform games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras often involved worlds subdivided into stages or levels, like this one from Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES:

image9
(Hand-drawn Super Mario Bros 3: World 1 – Source: deviantart.com/kokiricraigart)

These worlds featured multiple levels and an overworld map.

Players had some freedom to choose, but each level in a given world held similar challenges.

Each level in a world would share similar aesthetics, enemies, and challenges. Once all of these levels were completed, players were treated to new backgrounds, enemies, and challenges in a new world.

The mechanism of progress in these games remained the same (get to the end of the level), but fresh elements were regularly introduced.

Compare this to a more modern title like the Hitman series. Here, each new level may require a different skill set or approach. Though a relatively linear series, Hitman allows players to execute the same fundamental action in many creative ways.

Effective world progression requires game designers to pay attention to these 2 factors:

5.1. Level Progression – When a player completes a level, there’s an implicit understanding that the next challenge placed in front of them will be more difficult than the last.

However, if difficulty ramps up too fast, the player quickly gets frustrated.

Game designers must make each level more challenging than the one preceding it, without creating unwanted difficulty spikes. In fact, deliberately giving the player occasional breathing room with simple challenges can increase retention.

Level progression works hand-in-hand with ability progression. As the player gains new powers, new levels present them with new traversal challenges demanding the use of those powers. This loop feels satisfying.

5.2. Enemy Balance Progression – New abilities, skills, or powers don’t feel impactful unless they are met with an appropriate level of challenge. This challenge can come from both environmental traversal and enemy balance.

Increasing enemy difficulty acts as a check on the player’s progress. Game designers can use enemy balance to reinforce how much the player has grown (by placing low-level enemies in their path) or slow down player progress with high-level enemies.

(By the way, if there are any I missed, please let me know in the comments section below, so I can add them)

So, What Elements Do Effective Progression Systems Have in Common?

Effective game progression systems are a way for players to track their advancement over time in a balanced way

image19

Almost every game progression systems I’ve worked on use a combination of four elements. However, these elements has to be intentionally balanced to work together in order to keep the player in the green, yellow, or orange zones in the difficulty curve above.

Let’s go over each.

1. Reward: The reward part of a progression system boils down to

What do I get for completing this goal?

An NPC offering you a weapon, armor, or access to a currently locked-off area in exchange for completing a mission is an example of reward progression.

The payoff motivates the player. Although the steps required to achieve the goal must still be enjoyable, the reward is the primary motivator.

In this talk, Epic Games’ Ben Lewis-Evan discusses the psychology behind reward systems in games:

2. Problem: Progression can also involve resolving problems and conflicts that exist in the game world. Unlike reward progression, problem progression motivates us to remove, resolve, or destroy something rather than gain something.

Problem progression overlaps with a game’s narrative. Game writers and narrative designers need to set up a problem in such a way that players will emotionally respond to it.

Resolving the problem comes down to gameplay, but our motivation is informed by writing.

3. Pacing: When the pace of progression is off, the sense of player satisfaction is diminished.

For example: Did getting power armor feel more exciting in Fallout: New Vegas or Fallout 4?

image6
(Source: Fallout Wiki)

For most people, the answer is New Vegas. In Fallout 4, the player receives power armor within minutes of starting the game—there’s no sense of achievement.

In New Vegas, power armor is ultra rare. If you get it, you feel a legitimate sense of accomplishment.

The reward in both cases is materially the same, but pacing makes getting that reward feel totally different.

4. Clear steps: Effective progression systems illustrate and define the steps you must take to advance.

For example, from the moment you start Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you know your objective is to travel to that volcano and defeat Ganon.

However, it wouldn’t be much of a game if the steps between starting the game and reaching your goal weren’t clearly defined and fun.

Great games allow players to progress in stages, mastering old skills and abilities before adding new ones.

How progression is broken down is crucial in retaining player interest. If you give them all the options and abilities too quickly, players feel overwhelmed. If you force players to use the same strategies and abilities on unformidable enemies, they get bored.

How to Design Basic Game Progression

So, let’s take these elements and see how their application in game design can increase variety, power, and challenge.

Start by mapping out your game like a tree:

how to design game progression scaled

Most people design games like the above image, using the obstacles and challenges to decide which player skills and abilities to introduce. This process can be okay for simple games.

However, stronger games do it the other way around—planning their problems first and introducing only the abilities needed to overcome them:

image8

Working backward from the tests of tool (aka puzzles and bosses), then figuring out what’s in the way, progressively laying in additional resistances, new tool challenges, and so on will create a more polished experience for the player.

Next, across zones, you plan out their relative difficulty. Use Google sheets to setup something like this:

Zone Name Health Damage
Newbie Town 0.5 0.25
Standard State 1.0 1.0
Flame Tower 1.5 1.0
Doom Zone 4.5 2.0

Even if these exact numbers aren’t what’s going live, you have an idea of how much vertical progression to give away:

In the newbie town to standard state section, you want player damage to go up from an extremely low value to a normal one. By the Doom Zone, you’ll want to 4x the player’s initial damage.

Game designers can allow players to increase their damage output in two straightforward ways:

  1. Increase weapon damage
    -or-
  2. Introduce playstyles that combine abilities to outpace incremental damage boosts

For example, adding in stun abilities or the ability for the player to destroy enemies at range increases their survivability.

Similarly, you can do this for enemy challenges as well:

Platform games use both level design and enemy balance to create a sense of progression. Let’s use Super Mario Bros 1-1 as an example.

This intro level contains primarily Goombas (easy to defeat) and very few Koopa Troopas (the ones that retract into their shell and bounce around).

Hammer Bros and Fire Piranha Plants are also not present. These projectile enemies are introduced later when the player has mastered the basics of traversal and combat.

Combining Hammer Bros with Spinys and Fire Piranha Plants suddenly makes the danger of all three grow dramatically. The visual calculus and processing speed demanded of the player jumps by an order of magnitude once all three enemy types are present on screen.

As an important note—you do not need to figure out everything before you start. Figure out the categories of progression that are relevant to your game. See how it plays, then course correct for your game.

My Final Thoughts on Game Progression

Whether you’re working on a numbers-heavy CRPG or a simple puzzle game, game progression is a fundamental pillar of game design.

Many players don’t notice or pay attention to progression systems. In their absence, however, those same players don’t feel compelled to invest more time into a game. A feedback loop that tracks players’ progress is a must.

Understanding how progression systems shape player experience, retain attention, and guide players along a game’s journey is crucial in designing great video games.

When done right, game progression systems create passionate communities who share build guides, strategies, and tips for many years after a game’s release.

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EXPERIENCE & BACKGROUND:

[STUDIO] Blizzard Entertainment: Content, mechanics, and systems designer

(Creator of Apex Legends & former Creative Director at Respawn)

[GAME] World of Warcraft: MMORPG with 8.5 million average monthly players, won Gamer’s Choice Award – Fan Favorite MMORPG, VGX Award for Best PC Game, Best RPG, and Most Addictive Video Game.

  • Classic:
    • Designed Cosmos UI
    • Designed part of Raid Team for Naxxramas
  • Burning Crusade:
    • Designed the raid bosses Karazhan, Black Temple, Zul’Aman
    • Designed the Outlands content
    • Designed The Underbog including bosses:
      • Hungarfen, Ghaz’an, Swamplord Musel’ik, and The Black Stalker
    • Designed the Hellfire Ramparts final bosses Nazan & Vazruden
    • Designed the Return to Karazhan bosses: Attumen the Huntsman, Big Bad Wolf, Shades of Aran, Netherspite, Nightbane
  • Wrath of the Lich King:
    • Designed quest content, events and PvP areas of Wintergrasp
    • Designed Vehicle system
    • Designed the Death Knight talent trees
    • Designed the Lord Marrowgar raid
  • Cataclysm:
    • Designed quest content
    • Designed Deathwing Overworld encounters
    • Designed Morchok and Rhyolith raid fights
  • Mists of Pandaria: 
    • Overhauled the entire Warlock class – Best player rated version through all expansion packs
    • Designed pet battle combat engine and scripted client scene

[GAME] StarCraft 2: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Diablo 3: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Overwatch: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Hearthstone: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[STUDIO] Riot Games: Systems designer, in-studio game design instructor

(Former Global Communications Lead for League of Legends)
(Former Technical Game Designer at Riot Games)

[GAME] League of Legends: Team-based strategy MOBA with 152 million average active monthly players, won The Game Award for Best Esports Game and BAFTA Best Persistent Game Award.

  • Redesigned Xerath Champion by interfacing with community
  • Reworked the support income system for season 4
  • Redesigned the Ward system
  • Assisted in development of new trinket system
  • Heavily expanded internal tools and features for design team
  • Improved UI indicators to improve clarity of allied behaviour

[OTHER GAMES] Under NDA: Developed multiple unreleased projects in R&D

Game Design Instructor: Coached and mentored associate designers on gameplay and mechanics

[STUDIO] Moon Studios: Senior game designer

(Former Lead Game Designer at Moon Studios)

[GAME] Ori & The Will of The Wisps: 2m total players (423k people finished it) with average 92.8/100 ratings by 23 top game rating sites (including Steam and Nintendo Switch).

  • Designed the weapon and Shard systems
  • Worked on combat balance
  • Designed most of the User Interface

[GAME] Unreleased RPG project

  • Designed core combat
  • High-level design content planning
  • Game systems design
  • Game design documentation
  • Gameplay systems engineering
  • Tools design
  • Photon Quantum implementation of gameplay

[VC FUNDED STARTUP] SnackPass: Social food ordering platform with 500k active users $400m+ valuation

[PROJECT] Tochi: Creative director (hybrid of game design, production and leading the product team)

  • Lead artists, engineers, and animators on the release the gamification system to incentivize long-term customers with social bonds and a shared experience through the app

[CONSULTING] Atomech: Founder / Game Design Consultant

[STUDIOS] Studio Pixanoh + 13 other indie game studios (under NDA):

  • Helped build, train and establish the design teams
  • Established unique combat niche and overall design philosophy
  • Tracked quality, consistency and feedback methods
  • Established company meeting structure and culture

Game Design Keynotes:

(Former Global Head of HR for Wargaming and Riot Games)
  • Tencent Studio
  • Wargaming
  • USC (University of Southern California)
  • RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology)
  • US AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
  • UFIEA (University of Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy)
  • West Gaming Foundation
  • Kyoto Computer Gakuin – Kyoto, Japan