Project Playtime

Game Director

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Project Playtime was a asymmetric multiplayer horror game set in our Poppy universe - years into the future, a team of Playtime Co. engineers is sent in to investigate the events of the Chapters games and instead becomes trapped in a fast-paced, puzzle-laden escape nightmare.  The game was quite a lot of fun (we would take an hour of every day to conduct office-wide playtests) but it was a classic case of too many cooks - some people wanted a twitch-mechanic platformer while others thought stealth-oriented cinematic horror would be more appropriate for the IP.  As Game Director I took a hybrid approach and for the first few phases, Project flourished.  Unfortunately, production on Chapters began suffering and I had to shift my focus back to our flagship title.  The company attempted to course-correct by streamlining things (by stripping the game of some of its more complicated systems/mechanics) and our numbers took a nosedive.  Project was subsequently sunsetted. 

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• Designed game features combining fast-paced, twitch-based mechanics with stealth and resource-driven survival gameplay, creating a uniquely engaging UX

• Directed development of visual language, tone, atmosphere, environments, characters and overall aesthetic direction

• Led the rapid prototyping and refinement of gameplay systems, collaborating cross-departmentally to translate the creative vision into polished, cohesive mechanics that contributed directly to the game’s initial success