Overview
Mutate AB
More than 50 games
PC
20 +
12 months
Tasks & Responsibilities
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Technical Game Design
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Game development, using Custom Engine & Blueprints​
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Prototyping & Iterating
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General Game Design
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Pitch Ideas & Documentation
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Overall Game Balance & Quality Assurance​
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Level Design
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Designed all of the maps & levels, using given assets from the "Art Team"​
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Community Events
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Tutoring community members on "How to Develop"
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Game Jam Host & Judge
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During my time at Mutate, I immersed myself in a dynamic and collaborative environment where innovation thrived for game design and creativity. As a key member of the team, I had the privilege of collaborating closely with a diverse array of professionals, including programmers, artists, marketing specialists and producers.
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Over the course of my journey with Mutate, I contributed to the development of over 50 games, each presenting unique challenges and opportunities. From the initial stages of prototyping to the final phases of release, I played a pivotal role in shepherding these projects through their lifecycle, ensuring they met our high standards of quality and creativity.
Technical Game Design
Game Development​
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One of the distinguishing features of my role at Mutate was the utilization of a custom game engine, which empowered me to iterate rapidly and bring our game ideas to life. With the use of custom blueprints and various toolsets available, it not only facilitated the development process but also fostered a culture of experimentation and innovation, which enabled me to push the boundaries of what was possible within the game engine. ​
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My primary objective at Mutate was to leverage the resources available to contribute to the growth and enrichment of the community, either by developing within the custom environment or by playing the games. Due to that, I contributed to the development of over 50 games of various genres, including primarily First-Person Shooters to Action Adventure games, like platforming, horror and puzzle games.
Prototyping & Iterating
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In an Agile workflow, speed and adaptability are necessary. I led the charge in swiftly translating conceptual ideas into prototypes, allowing me to iterate rapidly based on feedback from both our internal team members and the external community. This iterative approach ensured that we could refine gameplay mechanics, fine tune level design and optimize performance efficiently, all while staying true to the creative vision of each project.
My day-to-day tasks were to collaborate seamlessly with team members across various disciplines. Whether it was working hand-in-hand with talented artists to bring levels to life, with programmers to refine and implement game features necessary for the success of the game engine or with QA testers to identify and address issues. In essence, my role at Mutate was not just about creating the games, it was about pushing the boundaries of creativity, embracing the challenges of diverse genres in a fast-paced workflow and fostering a culture of continuous improvement through prototyping, iteration and collaboration.
Blueprints logic of a moving platform
General Game Design
Pitch Ideas & Documentation​
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In order to keep everything transparent between team members and other associates, depending on the project and work needed, I was creating different documents that would accompany each game independently. These documents were Figma Designs, with all the necessary info for each project, Weekly PowerPoint presentations to create a vision for other team members or even explanatory videos.
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There were projects where the implementation would last for a week and others that needed continuous implementation, depending on the success of them within the community and stakeholders. In these cases, we were creating and maintaining various documentation, in order to keep everything on track.
A pack of some game projects I created during my time at Mutate.
Overall Game Balance & Quality Assurance
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On top of each iteration, another responsibility was to ensure that every single aspect of each game was running as intended based on the initial vision. In collaboration with QA testers and weekly team testing, identifying, documenting and addressing any gameplay, level or engine issues was really important.
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Balancing core elements such as player attributes, AI Behavior and level design was a daily process. Furthermore, actively gathering feedback from players through social channels or surveys allowed us to follow a clear path for each project or the product as a whole.
Level Design
Other than developing game mechanics, player attributes, AI behavior and other elements of each game , level design played a crucial role in shaping the player experience for each project. As a key member of the team, I was deeply involved in crafting the environments, either by collaborating with 3D modelers and animators or by creating necessary assets using MagicaVoxel.
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The engine was continuously enriched with unique and modular assets by the art team, which were easy to use depending on the game I had to create. Each level/map had its own personality, depth and were constantly being iterated further.
Of course, level design wasn't about aesthetics, it was also about facilitating gameplay flow and guiding the player's objectives. I was strategically placing obstacles, puzzles, challenged to provide a sense of progression and keep players engaged from start to finish.
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Furthermore, as stated, my work at Mutate had was iterative development, which made my approach to level design collaborative, with a focus on constant refinement and improvement. I was always embracing feedback from teammates and community members, in order to make each level meet the highest standards of quality and player satisfaction.
Closer look of various level designs I made during my time at Mutate.
Other Responsibilities
Tutoring community members on "How to Develop"​
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Streaming development logs and practices on platforms like YouTube and Twitch was also another responsibility of mine during my time at Mutate. It not only provided transparency in the game development process but also served as a valuable education resource for aspiring potential game developers within the community.
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By streaming development logs regularly, we fostered a sense of community engagement, offering valuable tutorials on game development techniques, tools and best practices. Through live sessions, Q&A segments and walkthroughs, we built a dedicated fan base and strengthened the bond between the company and players.
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In addition, other than an invaluable opportunity to gather feedback from the community in real-time, streaming development logs also served as a form of marketing and promotion for the games we were working on, by discussing features and generating engagement for the release of each game.
Game Jam Host & Judge​
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My collaboration with the marketing team to organize and promote Game Jams with specific themes was another task during my work at Mutate. Helping out by establishing the themes, rules and timelines for each Game Jam, as well as creating captivating visuals and teaser trailers, we were generating interest and excitement around the product.
Overall, my collaborative efforts with the marketing team to host and judge Game Jams were instrumental in fostering community engagement, by providing a platform for creativity and collaboration.