Gallery
Associate Game Designer
Oddsparks
An Automation Adventure
Genre:
Automation, Adventure, Simulation
Game Engine:
The Project
Oddsparks is a unique, cozy automation adventure set in a charming fantasy world. Unlike traditional automation games, players build intricate production lines using adorable ‘Sparks’ and master traffic management, offering a beginner-friendly yet deep experience.
Joining Oddsparks during its early production, I initially focused on translating high-level design into tangible implementation, supporting core gameplay, and system balancing. Over the Early Access journey to full release, I advanced to owning multiple game systems, features, and content, from prototyping through to final product delivery.
Following you can find my Contribution and Learning from the Project. Futher below, you can find some of the Case Studies and Gallery.
Time:
2023 – 2025
Developed by:
My Contributions
- Core Game & Systems Design:
- Designed and iterated on core gameplay mechanics, combat, and comprehensive game systems.
- Optimized game balance, including loot, resources, costs, rewards, and player progression (quests, tutorials, achievements).
- Procedural World & Content:
- Led the design and iteration of procedural world generation in collaboration with the Lead Programmer, including biome distribution, points of interest, and enemy/environmental challenges.
- Owned the design and managed production for new biomes, combat, in-game shops, etc.
- UX & Development Support:
- Improved user experience and accessibility across PC and Console, focusing on the Build Tool, map interactions, and game options.
- Organized playtesting, translated insights into development tasks, and supported QA and localization efforts.
- Proactively planned and documented features to ensure agile development and on-time delivery.
Learnings
“Oddsparks” was a significant learning experience that profoundly shaped my understanding of game development.
Key takeaways:
- Engine & Production Mastery: I gained invaluable experience rapidly adapting to and utilizing Unreal Engine 4, while simultaneously understanding the entire production pipeline within a 21-person studio and fostering effective cross-departmental collaboration.
- Design Implementation & Systems Knowledge: This role taught me how to effectively translate high-level design concepts into tangible in-game implementations, organize complex data assets, and deeply understand the intricacies of balancing core game mechanics.
- Production Management & Feature Ownership: My responsibilities evolved to include managing the production aspects of features, which significantly enhanced my understanding of team communication, decision-making processes, and true feature ownership, including content creation and UX refinement.
- Holistic Development Perspective: The project provided a comprehensive understanding of real-world game production from early conceptualization to post-release feature management, solidifying my knowledge of development pipelines and iterative processes.
Case Studies
Case Study: "To Leaves, not too Leaves"
My Role: Game Balancing | Point of Interest (POI) Placement
The Challenge: Resource Clutter & Guiding Players to Better Tools
In our game, “Leaves” are a basic resource. We faced two main issues:
- Early-Game Clutter: Players would gather too many “Leaves” from small Bushes when they didn’t need them yet, quickly filling their inventory.
- Motivating Tool Upgrades: Later, players would need lots of “Leaves.” We wanted to ensure they’d naturally switch to using the Choppy Spark, a spark with cutting ability, to cut down Birch Trees, which are a much more efficient source, rather than endlessly grinding small bushes.
Solution & Impact:
To solve these, we adjusted how “Leaves” were obtained and where a key helper was unlocked:
- Reduced Bush Drops: We lowered the number of “Leaves” players got from Bushes (now just 1-3 per harvest).
- Impact: This prevented early inventory clutter, making the initial game experience smoother and less frustrating.
- Increased Birch Tree Yield for Choppy Spark: We made Birch Trees give significantly more “Leaves” (5-6 per harvest).
- Impact: This clearly showed players that using the Choppy Spark on Birch Trees was far more effective, instantly highlighting the helper’s value.
- Strategic Unlock Placement: We placed the Choppy Spark’s unlock point (Shrine) directly inside a Birch Forest.
- Impact: Upon unlocking their new helper, players were immediately surrounded by its ideal target, encouraging them to try it out right away and understand its power.
The Outcome: Better Player Flow
These changes resulted in a much smoother and more intuitive player experience:
- Players felt instantly rewarded by the Choppy Spark, seeing its efficiency firsthand.
- They easily learned the intended ways to gather “Leaves” as they progressed.
- The overall “Leaves” acquisition felt less like a chore and more like a natural part of advancing in the game.
Ultimately, we refined the resource economy to remove frustration and guide players naturally toward efficient automation.
Case Study: Introducing Combat - the "Beelephant"
Contribution: Enemy Design | Combat System Introduction | Combat Pacing & Balancing
High-Level Design Goal:
Design the Beelephant as the inaugural proper enemy, serving as the foundational introduction to our game’s combat system.
Design Challenges
Introducing the first enemy required balancing core design principles:
- Threat vs. Reward: Create an intimidating foe that offers meaningful accomplishment upon defeat.
- “Cozy” Aesthetic: Ensure combat doesn’t constantly threaten players or disrupt the game’s calm atmosphere.
- Scalable Engagement: Design encounters that are manageable early on, but become significantly easier with player progression and automation.
Design Approach & Impact
Working with Programming and Art, I developed the Beelephant’s profile, abilities, and behavior. Our approach focused on intuitive design and strategic balancing:
- Archetype Design for Familiarity:
- Approach: Mixed Beetle + Elephant concept.
- Impact: Fostered immediate player recognition and relatability.
- Visual Threat, Calm Behavior:
- Approach: Large, intimidating visual size, but non-aggressive behavior (unless provoked).
- Impact: Created initial threat impression without constant player stress, preserving cozy vibe.
- Predictable Combat Pacing:
- Approach: Designed clear AoE stun + single melee attack with cooldowns.
- Impact: Provided crucial player reaction windows and Spark management time, reducing early frustration.
- Difficulty Scaling:
- Approach: Balanced so 1 Spark fight is long/micro-intensive; 10+ Sparks is quick/low-effort.
- Impact: Strongly motivated Spark automation and production, acting as a clear progression incentive.
- Enemy Encounter Setup:
- Approach: Placed Beelephants in Birch Forests near Berry bushes.
- Impact: Guided player discovery, linking combat to essential resource acquisition for factory construction.
The Beelephant successfully serves as a gateway combat experience, balancing initial challenge with scalable progression, all while respecting the game’s core “cozy” identity.
Case Study: Designing the "Build Preset"
Contribution: Feature Design | Wireframing & UX Improvement
Background:
In Oddsparks, the Build Tool is a core in-game system that empowers players to construct various buildings and production lines within their factory. It provides functionalities like directly switching to different specialized tools (e.g., Move Tool, Path Tool, Copy Tool, Logic Tool), accessing the main Build Menu, and selecting recipes or path types. After a major “Train & Trade” update, we decided to enhance this essential tool by adding a new “Build Preset” feature and addressing existing usability issues based on player feedback.
The Challenge: Streamlining Build Tool Usability
Key UX challenges included:
- Input Modality & Accessibility: The design needed to be fully accessible for both Mouse & Keyboard and Controller users, navigating the constraints of limited controller key bindings while supporting seamless control switching.
- Cognitive Load & Muscle Memory: The existing Build Tool’s “History” system, which displayed the last 5 built items, was counterproductive. Its constant updates hindered muscle memory and increased cognitive load.
- Unintuitive Spatial Interaction: Setting the height of “Train Poles” required unintuitive
[D-Pad Left]and[D-Pad Right]inputs, a clear usability flaw for vertical adjustments. - System Cohesion & Learnability: The new “Build Preset” feature needed to integrate seamlessly, enhancing the experience without introducing a steep learning curve.
Design Approach & Outcomes
I led the wireframing and design improvements, focusing on user-centric solutions.
- Intuitive Build Preset: Designed for easy access and building configuration saving. Significantly reduced actions (button presses) for building, improving workflow.
- Enhanced Muscle Memory: Removed the unpredictable “History” system. Created a consistent, easy-to-remember default toolbar.
- Improved Controller Ergonomics:
- Reoriented selection bars vertically.
- Impact: Enabled intuitive
[D-Pad Up/Down]for height adjustment, solving a key usability issue.
- Seamless Integration:
- Minimized changes to the core framework.
- Impact: The tool felt familiar and was easy for players to adapt to.
Build Preset
