I combine hands-on systems design with collaborative leadership — staying deeply involved in moment-to-moment gameplay while empowering designers to take ownership and grow.

Led teams responsible for player abilities, combat, enemies, bosses, companions, and progression
Shipped large-scale action RPG experiences with multiple playable heroes
Built tools and workflows that accelerated iteration and cross-discipline alignment
Focused on player readability, encounter clarity, and emotional engagement

Leadership & Team Development

I lead by listening first.
When joining a new team or project, I align with directors on high-level goals, then dig into existing systems to understand constraints, skill levels, and creative intent before re-aligning and setting priorities.
I focus on:

Defining clear goals aligned with creative vision
Breaking large challenges into achievable milestones
Assigning team members based on strengths and growth trajectory
Prioritizing tasks based on player impact and production reality

I’m intentionally hands-on. I maintain a deep understanding of systems so I can give actionable feedback, ask better questions, and remove blockers quickly.
Growing designers is core to my role. I help team members strengthen communication, manage scope, and step confidently into ownership — watching designers level up remains one of the most rewarding parts of my work.
At scale, I’ve led teams responsible for combat, enemies, bosses, companions, and progression — shipping games with shared design standards for clarity, engagement, and player mastery while building tools and workflows that accelerate iteration.

Designing Under Pressure

On an unannounced project, I was brought in to rescue a failing “Living Village” prototype with only four months remaining before executive review.
The team needed to prove a believable, interactive village, but scope was too large and progress was scattered.
I restructured the effort around five critical interactions, each designed to validate a core prototype goal. I paired key designers and engineers on each interaction, collaborated with senior engineers to build foundational dialog and character movement systems, and implemented portions myself when needed. We delivered a fully playable village with more than fifteen NPCs moving dynamically between spaces under tight performance constraints.
Result: The prototype succeeded, and the project moved forward.

I thrive in these moments — bringing clarity to chaos, aligning teams around achievable goals, and shipping meaningful experiences under real constraints.

Action Gameplay Design Philosophy

Combat in Asgard's Wrath 2

My design instincts are grounded in action gameplay — creating encounters that feel readable, intentional, and emotionally engaging, regardless of camera perspective.
While much of my recent work has been in VR, the core challenges are the same as traditional third-person action games: player readability, encounter pacing, ability clarity, enemy identity, and maintaining flow under player-controlled cameras.
I design combat around a few core principles:

Readability comes first. Clear telegraphs, strong visual language, and consistent enemy behaviors enable player mastery.
Every encounter has intent. Whether a major set piece or a brief palate cleanser, each encounter needs a clear identity and player focus.
Abilities invite strategy. Player tools should complement one another, encouraging thoughtful use of full kits.
Escalate with understanding. Combat tests skills first, then provides breathing room before increasing complexity.
Fairness builds trust. Enemies behave consistently, and new mechanics are introduced deliberately.

Across projects, my goal is consistent: build combat experiences that feel challenging but fair, expressive without being overwhelming, and designed to help players feel smart, powerful, and engaged.

Creative Callouts

Loki Boss Fight – Asgard’s Wrath 2

I led the design on and personally implemented this final boss encounter to make Loki feel powerful and awe-inspiring while keeping players empowered across four radically different heroes. The fight escalates cinematically, uses the full breadth of player abilities, and relies on strong visual cues to maintain clarity. It required close collaboration across design, engineering, animation, VFX, and audio to land both spectacle and readability. Players consistently described it as memorable and exciting — exactly the response we aimed for.

Working Across Disciplines

I collaborate closely with animation, narrative, art, audio, VFX, and engineering from the earliest stages of development to ensure gameplay, story, and presentation reinforce the same player fantasy.

With animation, I align on combat goals and timing, then iterate directly in-engine until responsiveness and readability feel right, defining metrics on early prototypes.
With narrative, I prioritize ludonarrative harmony, identifying conflicts early and working collaboratively on solutions.
With engineering, I translate creative vision into concrete systems and production decisions, stepping in wherever needed to keep momentum moving forward.

My role across disciplines is to provide clarity, alignment, and forward progress.

What I'm Looking For

I’m pursuing roles on projects that will push me creatively, technically, and as a leader.  My strengths are in action-adventure or RPG projects with strong narrative and combat foundations.
I thrive on collaborative teams that value creative ownership, open communication, and thoughtful iteration. I love building experiences that challenge players while giving them the tools to feel powerful and capable.
Games still have enormous untapped potential, and I’m motivated every day by helping teams unlock it.