Game Prototype Development
Design Direction, Technical Problem-Solving, Production Mentorship
Core Loop Design, Scope Reduction, Conditional Event Systems
The original concept began as a significantly broader mouse-controlled racing game. My role was to identify the project’s most distinctive idea, reduce it to a viable five-week prototype, and structure development around a clear core loop. I helped break the game into timed objectives, ticket-counting logic, randomized resident appearances, and conditional environmental reactions. By establishing the illustrated environment first and introducing mechanics incrementally, we moved the project from an uncertain concept to a complete and immediately understandable playable experience.
My Role: Game Design Direction · Feature Scoping · System Breakdown · Iteration Planning
Turn-Based Combat · Resource Management · Vertical Slice Development
A self-contained JRPG boss encounter in which players manage health, abilities, and limited resources while battling a vine-like creature. Rather than attempting to produce an entire role-playing game, the project distills the genre into one polished and mechanically complete vertical slice.
The main production challenge was balancing ambitious visual goals with the need to establish reliable combat logic. I directed the project toward an early functional prototype using placeholder assets, allowing health calculations, damage values, ability effects, turn sequencing, and win–loss conditions to be tested before final artwork was integrated. This workflow reduced production risk and created a stable structure for visual development. The final prototype demonstrates how disciplined sequencing—mechanics first, content second, polish last—can turn a large genre concept into a manageable and cohesive deliverable.
My Role: Scope Planning · Combat-System Review · Prototype Strategy · Milestone Management
Asymmetric Multiplayer · Gameplay Balance · Iterative Playtesting
Because the basic implementation was relatively simple, the central design challenge was creating meaningful strategic tension between two asymmetric roles. I prioritized producing a playable core loop by the second week so that balance decisions could be driven by observation rather than speculation. Repeated playtests led to new mechanics, including traps that temporarily disable Dotty and physical blocking enabled by Mori’s larger body. These additions created multiple viable strategies and transformed a simple scoring interaction into a layered competitive system. My contribution focused on playtest structure, mechanic evaluation, and converting player behavior into actionable design revisions.
My Role: Gameplay Direction · Balance Analysis · Playtest Planning · Iterative Feature Design
Card-System Design · Combinatorial Logic · Hidden-Parameter Evaluation
The initial design included an open-ended ingredient system whose possible combinations expanded too quickly to implement or balance reliably. I helped restructure the mechanic into two base ingredients plus one modifier, preserving expressive variation while establishing a controlled combinatorial space. We then clarified the card pool, draw logic, placement rules, and evaluation conditions connecting player choices to consistent feedback. The resulting prototype demonstrates how a poetic concept can be translated into explicit variables and manageable system logic without losing its original personality.
My Role: Systems Design · Complexity Reduction · Rule Definition · Feature Architecture
Audio-Based Gameplay · Progressive Difficulty · Player Onboarding
Midway through development, testing revealed two usability problems: the changing objectives were not sufficiently explained, and the first challenge required players to compare an inaccessible two-minute composition. I helped restructure the experience into shorter musical segments distributed across progressively introduced levels and recommended explicit instructional cues for each new interaction. These changes reduced cognitive load while preserving the project’s atmosphere and original music. The final prototype demonstrates how onboarding, pacing, and information clarity can make an unconventional core mechanic immediately more playable.
My Role: UX Review · Onboarding Design · Difficulty Pacing · Playtest-Based Iteration
Road Island by Jin Yu
Modular Puzzle Logic · Level-Design Tools · ScriptableObject Workflow
The primary challenge was converting visually complex road tiles into logic that the game could evaluate consistently. I helped decompose the assets into modular categories—including corners, straight roads, intersections, and T-junctions—and define a center-to-edge connection model for detecting valid closures. We first tested the system with physical tile mock-ups, confirming that the core puzzle was understandable before committing to full implementation. I also collaborated on a Unity map-editing workflow using ScriptableObjects, allowing levels to be assembled and expanded without hard-coding every configuration. The result combines gameplay prototyping with scalable content-production tools.
My Role: Technical Game Design · Logic Decomposition · Physical Prototyping · Tool Development
Rhythm Mechanics · Multi-Level Production · Technical Debugging
The student worked independently on most gameplay systems, so my contribution focused on production structure and technical maintainability. During debugging—particularly an issue involving repeated audio playback—we identified that unclear component ownership and system hierarchy were making failures difficult to isolate. I helped review the project’s organization, clarify responsibilities across components, and establish a more structured debugging process. This improved both the immediate stability of the prototype and its capacity for further development. The case demonstrates my ability to support an already capable developer by strengthening architecture rather than taking over implementation.
My Role: Production Review · Architecture Feedback · Debugging Strategy · Project Organization
3D Action Prototype · Ability Combinations · Risk–Reward Design
Because the student already had a strong technical foundation, my role concentrated on deepening the relationship between implementation and game design. Through critique and testing, we introduced a consequence for activating an attack combination without a nearby target: the ability damages the player instead. This single rule converted an automatically beneficial action into a contextual risk–reward decision, requiring players to evaluate position and timing before acting. I also supported the project’s feature planning and system documentation, helping maintain clarity across its interconnected gameplay components.
My Role: Systems Design · Mechanic Refinement · Risk–Reward Balance · Production Planning
itch.io
Based in Providence, RI, USA
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yichuan.wang.work@gmail.com
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