Game Design
In my game design work, I focus on building systems and experiences that invite players to explore, experiment, and tell their own stories. I approach design holistically, ensuring that mechanics, pacing, and player choice all work together to create a coherent and engaging flow. My background across both digital and tabletop design has taught me how to balance structure with flexibility and to refine ideas through iteration and playtesting.
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My projects include Etheric Horizons, a collaborative heroic-fantasy deckbuilding TTRPG designed for fast-paced, story-driven adventures. From concept through extensive playtesting, I developed its core systems, including modular card decks and a dynamic dice-scaling mechanic that maintains momentum across all pillars of play.
I also contributed to Phoenix, an isometric action game centered on reactive combat and environmental interaction, where I worked closely with other designers to prototype and refine the game’s combo systems and encounter flow.
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Across every project, I focus on taking ownership, communicating clearly, and working closely with other disciplines to see creative ideas through from concept to completion. I enjoy finding elegant solutions to design challenges and creating experiences that feel thoughtful, cohesive, and rewarding to play.
Etheric Horizons
TTRPG Designer
About the Game
​Etheric Horizons is a collaborative heroic-fantasy role-playing game that blends deckbuilding with narrative-driven play. Players build unique decks that are formed from their character’s strengths and choices. Using a flexible dice-scaling system and no numeraric "modifiers" keeps gameplay quick and adaptable. The system is designed to support open-ended storytelling, giving players the tools to create shared adventures that feel spontaneous yet cohesive.
Design Process
In designing Etheric Horizons, I focused on how mechanics can enhance storytelling without slowing it down. I developed and refined systems that balance structure with creative freedom, ensuring the rules supported collaboration and pacing across all types of play. Through extensive playtesting, I analyzed how players interacted with both the narrative and mechanical layers of the game, using their feedback to fine-tune clarity, balance, and engagement.
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I managed all aspects of design and documentation, from early prototypes to iteration tracking. Each stage of development was guided by a clear vision of how changes would shape pacing, clarity, and the overall player experience. The project allowed me to strengthen my skills in systems design, player psychology, and iterative development while delivering a cohesive and replayable role-playing experience.
Etheric Horizons
TTRPG Designer
Cards and Game Actions
In Etheric Horizons, your character is represented by a deck of cards built by the player. These cards enhance and modify your actions, allowing you to boost attempts or reshape outcomes in creative ways. Most actions in the game can be attempted without cards, but using them provides meaningful advantages that encourage players to think outside the box. While some games might have blasting an enemy with a spell be the optimal play, Etheric Horizons rewards players for reshaping their environment, tricking the opposition, or cutting in with just the right words to defuse the situation.
Determining Success
Etheric Horizons uses a roll-low dice system to determine success when players take actions. Rolls begin with a d20 and players can spend resources and use teamwork to shift to smaller dice sizes: d12, d10, d8, and finally d6. It is them up to both them and their allies how many resources they are willing and able to use to increase their chances of success.
Through playtesting, I found that turning rolls into a collaborative mini-game keeps everyone at the table engaged, even when their character isn’t in the spotlight. It encourages teamwork, strengthens the sense of shared success, and creates exciting moments when the party’s combined effort leads to a hard-earned victory.
Scenes
​Scenes form the core structure of Etheric Horizons, framing play as an unfolding, episodic story. Characters move fluidly from one moment to the next, with no hard divide between “in combat” and “out of combat.” This structure, combined with the card-driven mechanics, keeps the pace dynamic and the focus on storytelling rather than setup. By removing the need for traditional pauses like rolling initiative or arranging miniatures, the game maintains a natural rhythm where tension can rise or fall organically, and situations can escalate or resolve as smoothly as waves shifting across the sand.
Etheric Horizons Quickstart Demo
The Quickstart Demo is a downloadable version of Etheric Horizons designed to help players jump straight into the action using materials they already have at home. While the full release will feature custom-illustrated cards, this version uses a standard 52-card deck to make the experience approachable and easy to set up. The Quickstart Demo highlights my focus on accessibility and player onboarding, offering a streamlined way to learn the core mechanics and capture the spirit of the full game without additional materials or preparation.
Phoenix
Game Designer
Design Process
Phoenix is an isometric combat and exploration game developed in Unity as part of the Games Research Lab. I served as a Game Designer, focusing on combat, narrative, and level systems. My work involved taking features from concept through to fully playable vertical slices, ensuring that every design decision contributed to a cohesive gameplay experience.
I collaborated closely with artists, engineers, and fellow designers to translate creative ideas into functional systems within the engine. Through rapid iteration and continuous playtesting, I refined mechanics for pacing, balance, and player engagement. Throughout development, I maintained clear and organized documentation to support cross-department communication and smooth implementation of new systems.
Combat & Combo System Design
In Phoenix, I helped design and implement the game’s combo system, aimed at creating combat that felt fluid, expressive, and reactive. I prototyped attack chains and ability interactions, testing variations in timing, input windows, and player feedback to ensure each encounter felt satisfying and dynamic.
Working alongside animators and engineers, I refined the system to balance visual clarity with gameplay precision. Iterative testing and player feedback shaped the final design, helping the combat achieve both mechanical depth and accessibility for new players.
