2D Puzzle Adventure Game that Explores a Fallen King Retaking Their Bird Kingdom From a Deadly Disease

2D Puzzle Adventure

Creative Producer

Design Lead

Development

Project Management

I co-directed "The Song of Maka," Silverjay Studio's 4-year flagship project, which evolved from concept sketches inspired by Hollow Knight to a platformer/puzzle game and developed an innovative 2D game featuring a unique universe while crafting a compelling narrative centered on an exiled king's journey of redemption. We differentiated the game within the 2D Indie genre by prioritizing puzzle-solving and environmental interaction over traditional combat-focused gameplay. For example, we have boss battles that emphasize the strategic use of ecological elements rather than repetitive attacks.

Scouted and hired 15 members for the studio. Participated in weekly meetings and assigned tasks to every member through Jira, Notion, and Google Sheets. Onboarded all members through a customized Agile Methodology. Created design briefs, pitch decks, and budget estimations to begin commercialization talks with Bilibili and Ubisoft. Directed studio participation in the CUSGA 2024, winning “Best Game Overall,” indiePlay China 2024 “Best Student Game Awards,” plus many more. Presented the game at GDC 2023, sponsored by the State of New York booth.

I collaborated with fellow designers on all design documents related to this project using Notion. Created UI/UX elements for the game through Procreate and Adobe Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator for assets, After Effects, Xd, and Premiere Pro). Designed all levels with Figma and Unity. Oversaw level, environmental, character, and art asset creation while drawing assets using Procreate and Photoshop. I designed each level's main mechanics and storyline alongside my fellow designer.

Utilized Tinylytics for monthly playtest Excel reports to assess UX, clarify user stories, and balance in-game data.

Implemented Sprints and Kanban (especially using Scrum) using Notion to facilitate 15 team members’ workflow and pipeline.