Daniel Saunders - Game Designer

Skeleton Key was a jam game created for Ludum Dare 43. The theme was “Sacrifices must be made.” I worked alongside three other developers to create the game, and enjoyed the experience.

KEY WORK

  1. 1. I pitched and took charge of the initial idea and assisted in brainstorming mechanics for the game
  2. 2. I designed and developed the game’s third level, with the aim of finding interesting puzzle design for the game
  3. 3. The modelling was split between two of us, with myself creating half of the featured environment pieces
  4. 4. Also did a bit of musical fun, creating the main menu music

I am most proud that the game came in at a solid 122nd out of 1750 games in the Theme category. There are definite improvements that can be carried over, but not bad for our first Ludum Dare, and definitely a motivator for future jams.


The game and more information about the team can be found at: https://oxygengraffiti.itch.io/skeleton-key

Tasty Sheepies was a game jam created for a University ran jam named “Boot Camp”. This particular jam ran for four days during June of 2018. I worked alongside almost 30 other developers, mainly artists, to create this game. I was selected for the Lead Level Design role, and worked amongst the tech, art and closely with the Lead Game Designer to make sure the game was finished and playable for the jam deadline.

KEY WORK

  1. 1. Working on and overseeing the design and development of 6 playable levels and a tutorial. I worked closely with the Lead Game Designer to come up with new mechanics that would make the game more engaging to play
  2. 2. Working with the tech team to try to get things implemented in time for the deadline
  3. 3. Working alongside the Lead Environment Artist and the Environment Art team to make sure the assets developed would fit the game's theme and level structure


This was a fun project to work on. The biggest takeaway is how important good communication is between all industry disciplines. There were many issues from inconsistent scale to different bugs causing massive frame rate issues. These didn't hamper our progress, but did affect the quality of the finished product. I keep this here as a reminder of how important communication truly is.