Zynga (Merge Dragons!)
Merge Dragons | Mobile | Casual | 2 Years
Game Systems Designer
Since April 2022, I have been working remotely as a Game Systems Designer under the Zynga umbrella at Gram Games. There I've designed (and shipped) several key features, including Dragon Breeding and Treasure Tower (Zynga Feature of the Year 2022).
Footage of "Treasure Tower", which I helped implement and then tune after release.
"Ben is a joy to work with - tremendously responsive to feedback, adaptive in nature, and always on the lookout for ways that he can go above and beyond for the benefit of the team."
- Jesse Bruch, Lead Game Designer @ Zynga
Responsibilities
During my tenure, I have been tasked with:
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Pitching features and writing high-level design proposal documents (1-pagers)
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Writing comprehensive design documentation for large features
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Designing and implementing progression and quest systems as well as the content within said systems
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Planning and implementing seasonal offers, events, and dragons
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Creating and maintaining feature tuning spreadsheets to inform design decisions
Process
To inform my designs I regularly research competitors and stay up to date with the merge genre and wider industry trends.
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This position also marks the first time I have complete ownership over large features, and I regularly playtest and seek feedback from my peers to ensure my designs (and processes) are always improving.
Result
During my time on Merge Dragons!, I have:​
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Shipped several key features, including Treasure Tower and Dragon Breeding.
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Designed and implemented 100+ quests, 50+ Dragons, 4 seasonal offers & events, and 2 progression systems.
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Oversaw a complete overhaul of the first-time user experience and early game structure.