Education
University of Southern California
MFA - Interactive Media
2027 (expected)
Miami University
BS - Games and Simulation
2024
Cum Laude, Computer Science Minor
Games Projects
Prism of You
Audio Lead, Composer (August 2024 - Ongoing) - Student at USC Games
I am a volunteer on a USC Games MFA thesis project titled Prism of You. The project is a 3D emotional sandbox simulation game for desktop. Enter The Prism, a metaphor for your inner world, and engage with creepy-cute creatures which represent emotions. Players will engage with a range of experiences in this emergent emotional sandbox, which is a safe space to engage with the ups and downs of emotional extremes and everything in between.
Composing music for a simulation game focused on mental health was an exciting challenge, as I explored instrumentation and melody that softly accented the player experience, settling nicely into the background. As the sole composer, I developed music early and often throughout development, such that we had plenty of tracks to engage with come implementation. The final album will release with an anticipated six tracks. As the audio lead, I am currently overseeing sound effect creation through weekly feedback sessions.
CAN YOU FEEL IT? ANYTHING?
Solo Director, Writer (2025) - Student at USC Games
CAN YOU FEEL IT? ANYTHING? is a live theater performance about dissociating during a presentation gone wrong. The performance includes a video component that surprises the audience as it replays the scripted events ten seconds after they occur in real time.
I wrote and developed an awkward, uncanny script inspired by films like Inland Empire. Recruiting actors from the same class I would present the project in, I was able to trick unbeknownst audience members into a chaotic performance. I directed and edited the video component to reflect this tone, using a webcam via Zoom to capture to discomfort.
ZED: EVE OF NIGHTMARE
Producer, Lead Designer (2024) - Student at USC Games
ZED: EVE OF NIGHTMARE is a body horror point-and-click puzzle game that explores human understanding of the unconscious. As the only conscious being in the tortured realm of Marer's Jail, Zed must make sense of the visions of nightmares to craft powerful unconscious cores to feed the land.
I served as a producer and a lead designer for a team of four students. I managed an agile development scrum methodology for two months of working time utilizing Atlassian JIRA software. I designed a point-and-click puzzle loop of locating items, changing the camera perspective, and moving items around the space to match a symbol. I additionally wrote and designed dialogue cutscenes to tell a story of existentialism and the desire for a monotonous life to change.
Know Your Neighbor
Producer, Writer (2024)
Know Your Neighbor is a 2D narrative-driven walking simulator where experiencing trauma is just as overwhelming as you'd imagine. Explore a twenty-four hour snapshot of three characters lives, all playing out in front of you at the exact same time. The game is designed to be played by rotating one's monitor vertically, so that you can peer into the apartment complex these characters live in.
I designed this game as a passion project along side my two closest friends in the games program at Miami University. This game is a prime collaboration of each of our unique skills, from my tragedy narrative dialogue to J Scherrer's imaginative way of thinking how games can be played. I wrote a twenty page script designed to be easily read and translated into the implementation of three characters who are meant to always be speaking at the same time on the screen.
In Search Of
Solo Developer (2024)
Queer Games Bundle 2024
In Search Of is a tabletop roleplaying game filled with poetic descriptions of an unsettling post-apocalyptic reality. After a sudden, catastrophic event on Earth, a mysterious little creature emerges in a state of extreme confusion and loss. In search of answers, voices from a world beyond influence their journey of discovery and desire.
Unfamiliar with TTRPGs, I deliberately put my own spin on the genre, writing more freeform and poetically, inspired by James Baldwin and A Thousand Thousand Islands. Most of the inspiration for this project came from processing grief due to my grandmother's recent passing. As an English teacher and lover of poetry herself, this work was designed to be dedicated to her. Additionally, I drew rough sketches of the world inspired by the clouded thoughts of the protagonist creature.
Click Here
Solo Developer (2023)
HandEye SuperFESTival 2023
Click Here is a 2D point-and-click puzzle horror game focused on one core, simple concept: clicking where the screen tells you to. All the while, you must learn to trust your instinct as you grapple with conflict and manipulation from a haunting host of creepy characters.
Designed and prototyped gameplay inspired by phishing schemes and malicious advertising methods. Iterating on a core gameplay mechanic to expand and add dimension to the game. Plans to expand the GB Studio version to a 5-8 hour gameplay experience built in Godot with an enhanced story about online abuse and manipulation.
Last Stand
Solo Developer (2023) - Student at Miami University
Last Stand is a print-and-play card game focused on telling large-scale stories of the many characters during a world at war through small-scale mechanics and lore bits. Each region's commander presents a unique goal for players to achieve victory in combat, some requiring brute force while others vie for notoriety or peace. Gameplay reflects war and the "David versus Goliath", where the underdog can always strike back and victory is never a given. Card art was worked on collaboratively with three artists at Miami University with provided references and lore for inspiration.
Out of Space
Solo Writer (2023) - Student at Miami University
Out of Space is a choose your own adventure game utilizing Gustav Holst's The Planets, Op. 32 as a metaphor for rekindling romance and identity repression. Developed in Twine for a queer studies course, I constructed a short story that allowed me to work through my own troubles with romance at the time.
Pastoral Trilogy
Solo Developer (2022) - Student at Miami University
Queer Games Bundle 2023
Pastoral is a trilogy of folk horror life-simulation games built in the nostalgic style of the Game Boy. Dror wakes up to discover that his friends have gone missing. Though it is presumed that they were caught by the wickerthorn monsters for being out past curfew, Dror is determined to save them from the unknown. Throughout his journey between isolated regions called Botans, Dror will grapple with his isolation, identity, and a newfound love for nature.
Developing the Pastoral Trilogy went hand in hand with exploring and understanding my own personal identity. At the time, I felt uniquely isolated from reality, but still felt grounded by the power of nature and an aromantic/asexual label. Though by the end of the developing process I no longer identified with these labels, I was able to channel these emotions into the overall narrative of Dror's journey. Additionally, I learned GB Studio and pixel art within a month's time in order to develop the first Act as a class assignment.
Work and Teaching Experience
Esports Shoutcaster University of Southern California Varsity Esports (August 2024 - Ongoing)
I am currently a shoutcaster for University of Southern California League of Legends, balancing conversations with co-casters to create constant engagement with a live-streamed audience. While previously focused on play-by-play casting, I have started to explore color casting as my knowledge of the game has increased greatly. Using advanced systems such as the replay and drafting technology, we are able to curate a more polished, professional-looking broadcast.
Student Assistant University of Southern California (January 2025 - Ongoing)
For "Digital Media Workshop", I assisted the professor in lectures and grading. I was able to deeply engage with students and their video game projects, helping them combat technical and design issues during development.
I developed and taught a class on "Audio Expression", a hour and a half lecture focused on conveying core fantasy and tone through audio, with a primary focus on music composition. Additionally, I designed curriculum for the lecture to follow up on students' learning, having them create a playlist of references and explain why each reference applies to their current project.
Broadcast Intern Miami University Varsity Esports (September 2020 - May 2024)
I was Miami University's play-by-play shout caster for varsity League of Legends and Hearthstone, balancing conversations with color casters to create constant engagement with a live-streamed audience. I hosted live broadcasts on Twitch, from professional esports tournaments to friendly variety competition.
eSports Intern Stride, Inc. (June - August 2023)
As an intern for Stride's esports division, I spearheaded the launch of Stride's Minecraft server, the Stride Learning Network. I designed and pitched original educational mini-games for the server. I directed a roadmap for the future of the server, including tournaments and other live streamed events to engage young students online. Additionally, I brainstormed and implemented player retention strategies, proofread and edited press releases, and crafted documents for data representation in relation to marketing our esports services. Lastly, I moderated student tournaments for plenty of games, from Fortnite to Rocket League, remotely via Discord.
Teaching Assistant Miami University (August - December 2023)
For "Storytelling for Games", I assisted the professor in lectures and grading student-made narrative design documents. Worked closely outside of class with students to hone their story writing and world building skills. I designed rubrics and graded on the principle that writing is rewriting.
I also developed and taught a class on the GB Studio engine, teaching students how to write with limitations. GB Studio was a focus to give students a simple engine to use to transform their written worlds into actual video games.