Hello! I’m Michelle :)


I’m a game designer, game director, and generalist developer who likes fancy lattes, the weird and wonderful natural world, and magic sparkles 🌿✨

I strive to design emotionally rich experiences with strong values - and hope to add a little more wonder and compassion to the world!

I love prototyping, gameplay design, narrative design, UX, and empowering other creatives to do their best work.

Currently based in sunny Southern California ☀️

Beasts of Maravilla Island

Game Director

Banana Bird Studios | Whitethorn Games

2019-2021

Beasts of Maravilla Island is a 3D adventure game where you take on the role of a young wildlife photographer who traverses Maravilla Island's magical ecosystems to discover extraordinary creatures, learn their behaviors, and, most importantly, photograph their majesty.

It was successfully funded on Kickstarter, published by Whitethorn Games, and released on Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox and Steam.

  • Responsible for communicating the game’s vision to a team of 20 through documents, presentations, prototypes, meetings, etc. 

  • Maintained consistent communication and collaboration across departments to ensure creative decisions maintained the game’s values and player experience goals

  • Fostered a positive communication culture across a distributed remote team

  • Saw the game through initial pitch, greenlight, funding acquisition, and successful ship on PC and console

Last Sentinel

Mission Designer

Lightspeed LA

2021-Present

Last Sentinel is a narrative-focused, open world action game set in a futuristic reconstructed Tokyo. Developed using Unreal Engine 5.

  • Crafted and implemented narrative missions from concept to playable 

  • Led design for a core gameplay mechanic; responsible for prototyping (Figma/UE5), implementing, running meetings, and presenting to stakeholders 

  • Prototyped unique gameplay, mission moments, and new features using UE5 Blueprints and proprietary tools

  • Created and maintained clear documentation for feature designs, mission content, technical docs, research, and competitive analysis 

Plasticity

Lead Designer

USC Games Thesis Project

2018-2019

Plasticity is a reflective cinematic platformer about a young girl who traverses and decides the future of her plastic-ridden world. It seeks to have players reflect on the impacts they have in their own environment, and visualizes a future in which in it is never too late to make meaningful change.

It was featured in Forbes, showcased at Games for Change and Indiecade, and released on Steam.

  • Led a team of 2 designers within a larger team of 30 to create focused, emotionally resonant gameplay

  • Crafted puzzles and interactions that generate player self reflection and reach complex emotional goals 

  • Created and maintained design documentation to communicate design vision to other departments.

Horizon Worlds

Product Designer | Game Designer

Meta

2020-2021

Horizon Worlds is an online virtual reality game with an emphasis on collaborative world building. Players can create their own worlds, or visit other worlds to host events, games, and social activities.

  • Worked in Figma to create product mockups for social connections team, working on designs for partying up, nametags, and group travel

  • Used proprietary creation tools to create VR minigames and first-party worlds

  • Worked with UX, Engineering, and Art teams to create usable content aligned with product vision

Stepstone Island

Game Designer

USC Games Thesis Project

2017-2018

Stepstone Island is a mobile fitness game where players clean and restore Stepstone Island through exercise. The app takes health data from the Apple Health app, and converts players' step count into currency they can use to clean trash, plant trees, and build a personal island space unique to each player. As you beautify your island, a cast of charming characters will come to visit to appreciate your hard work!

It was released on the iOS App store, and showcased at Indiecade@E3 2018

  • Focus on clarity and UX to create intuitive interaction systems for mobile

  • Designed an experience that meshed fitness encouragement with an inviting atmosphere.

  • Interpreted playtest data and used spreadsheets to balance game pacing and object pricing

Robottery 101

Lead Designer | Artist

USC Games

2017-2018

Robottery 101 is a 4-player, set collection card game about building giant robots in space to dazzle your anime professors at the Robot Science Fair.

It began as a university project, and was released after being successfully funded on Kickstarter 

  • Led a team of 3 from initial concept to polish and release 

  • Designed mechanics and game loops to foster childlike excitement

  • Digitally painted and iterated 50+ unique game components

  • Managed fulfillment with manufacturers and distributors