Selected game-system design · NDA-protected

Selected game
systems

Format: Four project case studies
Focus: Endgame · ecology · progression · multiplayer
NDA note: Identifying detail and proprietary material removed

Game system · Endgame / economy / POD leadership

Expeditions

How can a camped boss loop become an active endgame without accelerating the supply of its rarest rewards?

Context: Organised groups forced valuable spawns and repeated one encounter.
Scope: Access cost · run structure · temporary gear · reward selection.
My role: POD leadership across junior design, engineering, and art.
Status: Replacement system delivered.

Selected workEndgame loop replacementNames, values, and implementation removed

Forced high-value spawnPassive boss campingConcentrated unique dropsGrowing gear gap

01Ticket cost→02Instanced run→03Room graph→04Timed finale→05Reveal run rewards→06Keep one

Room grammar ACombatDirect encounter pressure

Room grammar BTraversalMovement and route pressure

Room grammar CChaseTime and pursuit pressure

Room grammar DLogicReasoning and coordination pressure

Supply levers entry cost · run duration · reward rates · one retained rewardVariation levers room mix · sequence · temporary equipmentPlayer contract earn several possibilities · make one consequential choice

01Instancing removes the incentive to monopolise a shared spawn.
02Room grammars vary the work required without requiring a wholly new mode for every run.
03The finale preserves player choice while capping how much value leaves each completed run.
04Ticket, temporary-gear, and reward models were evaluated together because each changes the same economy.

Context: Reduce targeted farming without turning access or rewards into arbitrary punishment.
My role: Player-flow prototype, procedural room framework, ticket and reward models, production direction.
Selected work: Replace a shared waiting loop with bounded, time-limited instances.
Process: Let the run expose multiple earned rewards, then permit one retained selection.
Outcome: The instanced system replaced the previous camping loop.

Game system · Ecology / world / art direction

Dens

What makes a repeatable monster encounter read as part of its environment rather than a generic spawn placed on top of it?

Context: A repetitive encounter with weak rewards had become safe to ignore.
Scope: Biome · entrance · interior · fauna · resources · crafting · rare variants.
My role: Design workshops, environmental logic, art briefs, and cross-discipline direction.
Status: Framework and art briefs delivered.

Selected workEncounter ecology dependency modelVisual language and content catalogue removed

Biome conditionsLocal faunaAvailable materialsCreature behaviour

01Read place→02Entrance grammar→03Procedural interior→04Encounter→05Harvest→06Return to world loop

Place layerEntranceBiome-specific silhouette and material cues

Ecology layerInteriorLocal fauna and gathered matter shape the space

Resource layerHarvestEncounter materials feed an existing craft loop

Exception layerAlphaRare variant carries an ability-granting prize

Consistency rule outside, inside, inhabitants, and reward must describe the same ecologyDependency rule harvested resources retain value outside the encounterRarity rule alpha variants alter the encounter and its prize, not only its number values

01The biome supplies design inputs; it is not a cosmetic skin selected after the encounter is built.
02Entrance briefs communicate the interior ecology before a player crosses the threshold.
03Harvestables connect the den to crafting, giving repeat visits a system-level purpose.
04Rare alphas create a memorable exception inside a repeatable procedural structure.

Context: The encounter had to gain meaning without becoming detached from the wider exploration loop.
My role: Junior-design workshops, ecology framework, reference sets, and biome-specific art briefs.
Selected work: Derive each den from environmental cues rather than applying one universal encounter shell.
Process: Connect common materials to crafting; reserve distinct ability prizes for rare alpha variants.
Outcome: An ecology framework and biome-specific art briefs.

Game system · Progression / craft / experience design

Primal Infusion

How can one spectacular timed ability become persistent progression without reducing the answer to a longer timer?

Context: A well-liked giant-form ultimate ended when its timer expired.
Scope: Combat · monster drops · Dens · exploration · cooking · world locations · growth.
My role: System design across crafting, progression, world rules, and cross-system dependencies.
Status: Design specification completed.

Selected workCross-system progression loopRecipes, tuning, content, and product identity removed

Monsters → ingredient sourceExploration → ingredient sourceDens → ingredient source

01Gather→02Skill-based cooking→03Infusion→04Energy management→05Font of Power→06Transformation

PracticeWorkshopA social location for interactive preparation

ChoiceRecipe treeIngredients become different progression routes

World ruleFontsTransformation depends on strategically relevant places

Mastery gatePrimal FontsAdvanced use yields material for the next tier

Closed loop mastery at high-tier Fonts returns materials to the progression systemPersistent state growth survives beyond a single ultimate activationCross-system value combat, Dens, exploration, craft, and social space each supply a required part

01Multiple ingredient sources prevent the feature from collapsing into one optimal activity.
02Cooking makes preparation playable rather than converting gathered matter through a menu only.
03Fonts make transformation geographically situated and therefore part of world strategy.
04Primal Fonts close the loop: mastery produces materials needed for further growth.

Context: Extend the meaning of the ultimate without simply extending its duration or adding an isolated upgrade tree.
My role: Crafting minigames, recipe trees, ingredient sources, world rules, progression structure, and participating-system map.
Selected work: Distribute preparation across gathering, craft, energy, place, and transformation mastery.
Process: Require Fonts of Power so that advanced use changes how players read and route through the world.
Outcome: Complete design specification and dependency model.

Game system · Emergent multiplayer / production planning

Temporal Anomaly

How can hundreds of players share one persistent crisis while local decisions and two-person coordination still matter?

Context: Persistent zone driven by population, concentration, and resource depletion.
Scope: Signals · regional state · services · events · secrets · group roles.
My role: System design and production planning.
Status: Greenlit, then shelved after a studio-wide priority change.

Selected workWorld-state escalation and responseThresholds, narrative content, topology, and product identity removed

Population densityPlayer concentrationResource depletion

01Observe signals→02Update regional state→03Cross event condition→04World crisis→05Distributed response→06Recover or escalate

Event class AOutbreakResearch posts may be overwhelmed; regional services change

Event class BEnvironmental crisisGathering and defence are distributed across the zone

Event class CParadox cascadeServer-wide secrets are embedded in public disruption

CulminationBoss eventThe crowd is divided into accountable two-person teams

Duo roleVANGUARDrole-specific responsibility

complementary actionsindividual judgementmutual survival

Duo roleWARDENrole-specific responsibility

Scale rule regional state responds to aggregate behaviourAgency rule crises require work in more than one placeAccountability rule the culminating crowd is partitioned into legible pairs

01The zone reads ongoing player behaviour rather than advancing through a fixed quest chain.
02Regional services become part of event state, making a crisis visible beyond its combat encounter.
03Distributed tasks prevent the whole population from solving every problem as one anonymous stack.
04Vanguard and Warden pairing restores individual responsibility inside the largest encounter.

Context: Mass participation must alter the world while preserving local judgement, coordination, and recoverable state.
My role: System flowcharts, reward and difficulty models, narrative briefs, content pipelines, and preliminary art-asset lists.
Selected work: Drive events from population, concentration, and depletion rather than a conventional central quest hub.
Process: Use distributed objectives for world crises and complementary pairs for the culminating battle.
Outcome: Fully greenlit, then shelved after a studio-wide change in funding and priorities.

About these case studies

NDA note

Client names, internal material, balance values, and identifying implementation details are omitted. The diagrams reconstruct design relationships only.