As a part of Portaplay, other than working on the Premium games, I was also the solo designer of 5 client projects with different target groups, genres and scoops. I got the experience of working on the full cycle of 4 of these projects (from ideation to release candidate) an understanding of all aspects of the development of a professional small-medium sized project.
All these games where delivered in time with full client satisfaction.
List of the all projects (click on each name to scroll down to its section).
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The Viking Expedition
Physics-comedy game with map-based progression (client: DR TV channel) -
The Dog Squad
Physics-comedy game with side-scrolling platformer levels (client: DR TV channel) -
Trading Floor Simulator
Minigame for site-specific installation (Client: Danske Bank) -
An Entrepreneur’s Journey
Minigame for site-specific installation (Client: Danske Bank) -
NewsArcade
A gamified experience about news (client: World Association of News Publishers)
The Viking Expedition (Vikinge Togtet)
Physics-comedy game with map-based progression for kids
The game is released soon.
Portaplay
Platform
PC - Switch
Date
August 2021 - August 2022
Client
DR TV channel
The Viking Expedition was made for DR TV channel to launch with their TV series about Vikings. The game is a medium sized game, made for kids and consists of learning historical and cultural facts about Vikings, fun mini games about: Hiring, Raiding, Trading, Storm, and sailing to far away lands and exploring the world as a Viking.
Responsibilities
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Creating and maintaining Game Design Document including simple wireframes and mock ups
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Designing, prototyping and iterating on the mini games in close communication with our programmer
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Iterating based on client feedback
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Balancing and tweaking the physics structure of ragdolls and other aspects of mini games based on our target group and playtests (mostly internal)
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Tutorialization
The Dog Squad (Hundebanden)
Physics-comedy game with side-scrolling platformer levels for young kids
The game is released soon.
Portaplay
Platform
PC - Switch
Date
February 2024 - Present
Client
DR TV channel
The Dog Squad is a small game for DR TV channel to complement their TV show, dog squad, which is about dogs, doing things that kids do. Because of the scoop of the game, it had some time & technical constricts which gave me a different experience of working fast, efficiently and with different tools than normal.
Since the game was made in phaser (to align with DR game app), I used google sheets to create the level flow, for implementation by the teams' programmer, to fasten the process.
Responsibilities
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Designing and iterating on the mini games with the goal of creating funny, random moments for kids of 4-7 years old
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Creating gameplay tasks for kids that are easy to understandable and don't need extra explanations
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Close communication with Art, Tech & Sound department to ensure vision alignments
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Iterating based on client feedback
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Giving feedback to physics structure of ragdolls and physics based objects based on our target group and playtests (mostly internal)
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Reviewing the manuscripts and determining where each should happen to ensure clear communication for kids
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Tutorialization
The next two games are a part of a physical exhibition in Danske Bank's new head quarter.
Trading Floor Simulator
Mini game about trading with physical setting
The game is running in Danske Bank's Head Quarter
Portaplay
Role
Solo Game Designer
Platform
Physical installation: 6 screens and a button
Date
August 2023 - March 2024
Client
Danske Bank
Trading Floor simulation is a very short physical game about trading and learning how trading works which is targeted towards Danske Bank employees and visitors who want to have a short break and a fun experience. The game can be played with a group or solo.
The challenge for this game was to create a 5 minute game with an alternative controller which also has accurate (financial) information about a topic that I had no knowledge on: Finances.
Responsibilities
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Ideation and designing game mechanics: deciding on the controllers, the needed information, resources, and dynamics between all elements
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Creating wireframes and mockups (including UX\UI) as references for tech and art department
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In house testing with different groups of people, and making slight iterations
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Communications with the client to ensure vision alignment and information accuracy
An Entrepreneur’s Journey
Reigns-like mini game about creating a company and making choices.
The game is running in Danske Bank's Head Quarter
Portaplay
Role
Solo Game Designer
Platform
Tablet for the game and physical installation to find information
Date
August 2023 - March 2024
Client
Danske Bank
This game is designed mainly for highschool school class visitors of Danske Bank and can be played either with groups or solo. The game is a highscore based game about creating a company in 1900s and making the best decisions within 100 years. Sometime, the player has to decide which of the 4 stats they want to improve as they are sometimes not aligned. Players can use the information physical objects and the screen to find the right answer to some of the questions.
The challenge for this game was to make a fun experience while teaching about Denmark, Danish economy and Danske Bank's history.
Responsibilities
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Designing and iterating on the game mechanics: choosing the right resources to use, UX & UI
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Resource management and balancing the points for each answer
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Creating and maintaining GDD including wireframes and mockups
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Creating a mockup of needed tools for tech for implementing the events and balancing them
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In house testing with different groups of people, and making slight iterations
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Communications with the client to ensure vision alignment and information accuracy
NewsArcade
Gamified experience about consuming and creating news
Portaplay
Role
Solo Game Designer
Platform
Browsers
Date
February 2023 - Present
Client
World Association of News Publishers
This project is an educational experience to teach students and social media users about journalism and how to make news. Throughout the experience players will make their own version of a news article and receive feedback from a journalist.
At this point the project is only funded for Beta version.
Responsibilities
For this experience I designed a whole gamified structure where journalists can fill a template with their crafted story. The main focus of the project was to teach how different ways of telling news and different perspectives and influence the whole story.
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Designing flow and structure of the experience based on journalist, teachers, and users need
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Add gamification elements to make the experience more fun, and put an emphasis to the more important points
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Designing templates that are relevant for the experience, and easy to fill by teachers and journalists.
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Arranging several different meeting with different partners all around EU to ensure vision alignment
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Make different iterations based on partners’ feedback and needs and test results
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Creating instruction documents and videos as tutorials for journalists who are gonna use the tool
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Giving feedback on the tool structure from UX point of view which resulted in a less confusing tool
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Participating in WIN-IFRA news congress to introduce the tool to participants
And try the latest version of the experience here (please resize your window to the vertical screen for the correct aspect ratio).
© 2024 by Anahid Attaran