Everything is the Game
Game creator
and writer by vocation of heart
All my life I had a strong feeling I was a character in the game, where everything is a puzzle, choices matter and skills are leveling on use. I recognized it was a Calling. I gave it a chance.
Since then I never stopped, growing from a regular Game Designer to Narrative Designer, and Lead, and even Product Owner at some point, where the whole game project was imagined, pitched, designed and managed by me, with the team of artists and developers following my direction.
Game Design
I invent fun and flexible Game Design mechanics, draft straightforward mock-ups, create clear and detailed descriptions, write awesome and useful reader-friendly documentation for the team, prototype stuff in UE 5 and on paper.
Localization
I make professional game localization from English to Russian and Ukrainian and back, perform text adaptation to fit cultural specifics, voice over needs, game engine restrictions.
Narrative Design
As Narrative designer I develop the game story and concept from scratch, pitch it and create the plot with all narrative elements: lore, characters, quests, dialogues, plot twists and aim to make it as immersive as possible. Also my passion is a wordless narrative where every item, every element in the game world adds to the story.
Leading and Producing
I’m pro in organizing full cycle work process, creating support documentation and HowTo’s for Designers, Writers, other team departments, tasks creation and management.
Some Interesting Facts
About Me
Being Game Designer means that you are interested literary in everything. Besides my work on creating games I try to manage the swarm of hobbies: playing video games both on PC and consoles, writing books, traveling, crafting stuff, painting miniatures, playing Pen&Paper and boardgames, studying and practicing photography.
Years of experience
Finished Projects
Visited countries
Coffee Cups
Experience
My Awesome Story
I have got a PhD degree in International Journalism and Communications, but after I've discovered my true professional passion I've switched to Game Industry and utilized my education in best way possible, where each aspect of my knowledge and skills paid out really well.
Just For The Win, Stockholm
December 2020 - Present timeGame Designer
Wrote detailed GDD describing all game flows, mechanics and features of future slot or table game. Provided flowcharts for all processes and scenarios in the game. Created wireframes for art team and developers. Designed ideas for feature presentation, best player experience, prepared visual game rules, message windows and other utility information. Worked on UI/UX designs mockups to create best player experience possible. Created all marketing texts for company's social media and web page.
Projects done:
- Scarab Kingdom (GOTY, The International Gaming Awards, 2022)
- Adventures of Captain BlackJack
- Piles of Presents
- Amazon Kingdom (shortlisted for GOTY by The International Gaming Awards 2023)
- Trojan Kingdom (shortlisted at the CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards for Game Mechanic of the Year, 2023)
- Golden Fields (shortlisted nominee for Game of the Year at the 2024 International Gaming Awards, company's top-grossing game)
- Candy Paradise
Yggdrasil Gaming, Stockholm
March 2019 – December 2020
Game Designer
Wrote detailed GDD describing all game flows, mechanics and features of future slot or table game. Provided simple flowcharts for all processes and scenarios in the game. Created basic wireframes for art team and developers, designed mockups of the game. Designed ideas for feature presentation, best player experience, prepared visual game rules, message windows and other utility information. Worked on UI/UX designs mockups to create best player experience possible.
Projects done:
- Yokozuna Clash
- Blood Moon Wilds
- Aldo’s Journey
- Neon Rush
- Lucky Neko (shortlisted nominee for Game of the Year by EGR Operator Virtual Awards 2020)
- Hades Gigablox
Yggdrasil Gaming, Malta
December 2017 – February 2019Game Designer
Was the first Designer to predetermine future shapes of the company's brand new Table Games series. Designed innovative "real casino style" mechanics in 3D environment for classic BlackJack and Roulette games. Worked on "Dealer" character behavior together with developers to get the most realistic and fun experience for the player. Wrote detailed GDD describing all game flows, mechanics and features of future games.
Projects done:
- Sonya Blackjack
- Lucky Blackjack
- Golden Chip Roulette
- Trolls Bridge 2
Friendly Cactus studio
September 2016 - April 2017
Lead Game Designer, Narrative Designer
Was hired as a Lead Game Designer and "crisis manager" to reveal the ongoing project which was badly designed and declined by the publisher on the first demo stage. It ended well with game being released with positive reviews from the players. Also was training the team of young Game Designers for the company's future projects, writing articles and tutorials for them, and working on the new point-and-click adventure game.
Projects done:
- Stranded Dreamscapes 3: Deadly Moonlight
- Stranded Dreamscapes 4: River of Souls (Beta)
AB Games
May 2017 – October 2018Lead Narrative Designer, Writer (remote)
Was responsible for all lore in ongoing f2p online hidden object game Hidden City: Mystery of Shadows. Created plot and scenery plans for new in-game events. Created 14 brand new Game Updates (events, stories, scenarios) with unique plot and full set of texts, all quests, dialogs, letters, made lists of collection items for each quest chain and provided references for them. Edited and improved texts made by other writers for the side quests, events and stories.
Projects done:
- Hidden City: Mystery of Shadows (iOS TOP)
Plarium International
April 2016 – January 2017
Narrative Designer (remote)
Created specific sentences and reactions for all characters used in the game. Made English and Russian localization for the game. Controlled that all characters have the same speaking style as their prototypes from the Rio movie.
Projects done:
- Rio: Match3 Party (AAA)
GrandMA studio
January 2015 – October 2016Lead Game Designer, Narrative Designer
Leaded the group of game designers with their own projects, controlled the work of three teams on all stages of development, gave the master-classes about game design, narrative storytelling. Created the game story for 7 projects from the first concept to the final details, features and hooks. Wrote the whole scenario, including the main plot, global quests, side quests, characters, their nature, motivations, dramatic moments and cinematic descriptions. Made the full GDD with all quest chains, objects, puzzles, mini-games, locations descriptions, dialogues, narrative information, sound specifics, game atmosphere.
Projects done:
- Whispered Secrets 4: Golden Silence
- Whispered Secrets 5: Everburning Candle
- Whispered Secrets 6: Song of Sorrow
- Whispered Secrets 7: Forgotten Sins
- Reflections of Life 4: Call of the Ancestors
- Reflections of Life 5: Hearts Taken
- The Unseen Fears: Body Thief
Logrus
February 2014 – December 2014Game Localization specialist (remote)
Translated and adapted all game content including UI, dialogues, technical texts, quests, riddles from English to Russian. Prepared documents for making voice over.
Projects done:
- Assassin’s Creed: Unity
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- Forza Horison
- Zoo Tycoon
- Project Spark: Team Dakota
- Disney Handy Manny
4friends studio
March 2013 – January 2014
Game Designer
Made the full GDD with all quest chains, objects, puzzles, mini-games, locations descriptions, dialogues, narrative information, sound specifics, game atmosphere. Wrote the whole scenario and in-game texts, including the main plot, global quests, side quests, characters, their nature, motivations and relation to the PC, dramatic moments and cinematic descriptions. Designed more than 70 fullscreen locations with 4-5 interactive zoom-zones in each, created basic schematic wireframes for them.
Projects done:
- Living Legends: Frozen Beauty
- Bridge to another World: Burnt Dreams
Top Evidence studio
November 2011 – February 2013Game designer, Senior Game Designer
Made the full GDD for each game with all quest chains, objects, puzzles, mini-games, locations descriptions, dialogues, narrative information, sound specifics, game atmosphere. Wrote the whole scenario, including the main plot, global quests, side quests, characters, their nature, motivations and relation to the PC, dramatic moments and cinematic descriptions. Created tasks for concept artists, character artists and animators.
Projects done:
- Witch Hunters: Stolen Beauty
- Witch Hunters 2: Full Moon Ceremony
- Haunted Manor: Painted Beauties
- Haunted Manor: Play with me (canceled)
- Ghost train (canceled)
My Featured Projects
During 13 years I took part in more than 30 amazing video games projects. I'm proud to have these games in my portfolio, and hope to add even more in the nearest future!
My Portfolio
How I Work
My Work Samples
My beautiful, clean and neat GDDs, scripts and concept docs are my pride and joy. Also they are a nice showcase of how my Design work, Narrative craft and Game Writing processes look "behind the scenes" of the projects.
Game Concept Proposal
High-level game pitch with story ideas and core mechanics.01.
Core Loop and Game Mechanics
02.
GDD for Point-and-Click Game
Detailed GDD for a point-and-click adventure game (first 7 locations)03.
Voiceover document
Voiceover document prepared for voice actors. Includes characters bio, situation descriptions with screenshots, emotional and vocal directions.04.
New IP Series Proposal
As a Lead Game Designer I created proposal for a brand new company IP (which turned into a series of successful games later on).05.
Deduction Feature Logic
Logic description for a new game feature called “Deduction”, which helps the player to make step-by-step conclusions about the mystery investigation.06.
Need more info ? Visit my Linkedin page :
LinkedInMy Own Design and Creative Skills
During my life I have mastered around 8 different professions, among which are not only Game and Narrative Designer, but also Producer, Journalist, Writer, Editor, Translator, Photographer. Most of my skills developed on their own on practice when I needed them to solve some task. From another hand I never miss the opportunity to learn something new, and I'm never upset, if job description includes some skills which I don't possess. That only means that I have amazing new challenge to master something new and useful!