ICE AGE 5

About the game:

• Company: Gameloft NYC
• Genre: Tycoon, resource management
• Target audience: Women 25-50 (main), kids 5-10 (secondary)
• Release date: Unreleased

About my work:

• Position: Lead designer
• Design work: original pitch, game loops, game systems, interactions, content, progression, UX
• Other work: team management, visual concepts, presentation design

This project is what I was working on as a lead designer before the NYC studio of Gameloft closed in July 2015.

It's a free-to-play mobile game based on the Ice Age licence, originally meant to accompany the release of the Ice Age: Collision Course movie. The game system and economy were based around a resource collecting and crafting system, as well as an innovative 3D map navigation.

I pitched the original idea to the company management as well as to FOX and Blue Sky Studios, and designed the game's core mechanics and economy. The project successfully passed its first deliverable, a prototype of about 15 min of gameplay demonstrating both the intended visual quality and the main interactions.

On this project, I managed 5 designers daily and was responsible for the design pipelines, including documentation, prototyping and the iteration process. I was working closely with the other project leads and the producer to share the game's vision and define its priorities via Scrum.

I had the opportunity to discuss directly with the Ice Age licensors to establish the restrictions and expectations for the project and ensure maximum fidelity to the brand.

What I learned:

• How to keep the team involved (via Scrum, participative management, design reviews)
• How to pitch a concept to different audiences (via live or document presentations)
• How to establish design processes (wiki, tools, brainstorms, reviews)