Game Design Manager | Gameplay | System Design | UI, UX, and Art
07.2019 –> 07.2026
- Designed Microsoft Jewel, a match 3 game that introduced new mechanics and gameplay to the genre and quickly became one of the studios most popular games. It was integrated into the Solitaire Collection app and received its own standalone Windows App.
- Followed Jewel with Microsoft Bubble that also out performed expectations. Again introduced into Solitaire Collection app and got its own standalone Windows App.
- Designed Gravity Blocks, Mahjong by Microsoft, Mahjong 3D, Gem Drop, and helped support many of the studio’s other titles like Trivia For You.
- Play any of these games online or in the Solitaire Collection app.
- Updated evergreen titles like Sudoku and Mahjong. Both quickly outperformed their older version.
- Managed game designers and external artists at our co-devs studios.
More information about each game and what I contributed to each.
Microsoft Jewel was a basic Bejeweled match 3 type of game but I had some ideas to make it unique. Here is what I added to the game:
- Bonus Jewels – There are 3 meters on the side of the board that represent a certain colored jewel. Fill the meter and the game gives you that colored jewel in your Jewel Case. Now you can then place the Jewel on the board anywhere to help make larger matches.
- Challenge Mode – At the end of each level, the game shifts into Challenge Mode and the player is given a goal to clear X number of Jewels from the board. BUT, no new pieces fall into the board. Not only does this turn it into a pseudo-Collapse game, but it creates new ways to make matches (matching across empty spaces, dropping Bonus Jewels in and quickly swapping jewels to “catch” the falling jewel).
- Rocks – Rocks are not jewels and they do not match when you get 3 together. Instead, you need to use power-ups (line clears, bombs, match-5s) to remove them from the board. But they are worth a lot of points and cause the board to pause as they explode (letting you make quick matches before the jewels fall in).
Mahjong by Microsoft (iOS and Android)
