Hi there! I'm Ryan, and I make Video Games.

I am a Senior Game Designer with over 15 years of experience.

Previously I worked at PikPok in Wellington, New Zealand, where I had been making some awesome new games like ‘Doomsday Clicker’, ‘Ready Set Golf’, and ‘Rival Stars College Football’.

Prior to this I had worked at Halfbrick Studios, working together with my team to make some really cool stuff. for ‘Fruit Ninja’ and ‘Jetpack Joyride’, award winning and wildly successful mobile games.

During my career I've been able to accomplish the following:

Designed and created unique levels in various genres (Puzzle, Top Down Shooter, 2D Platformer, Endless Runner)
Pitched and developed brand new games (Doomsday Clicker, Ready Set Golf)
Created and implemented concepts in already released games to improve retention and make them more fun to play.
Excelled in user interface design, designing menus in games and simplified functionality with new players.
Used LUA scripting to write basic code for new functions within our games.
Transferred local data into a massive digital database.
Led talks about my work at the Game Developers Conference, GCAP, NZGDC and more.
Worked in a SCRUM based environment.
Have a healthy addiction to data analysis.
Worked in creating new content for social media.

Click the icons below to check out what I've been working on with those games. Keen to have a chat? Contact me at ryan@makesvideogames.com and get the conversation rolling!

Andy Satterthwaite (Chief Design Officer at PikPok)

Ryan is amazing. A truly inspired game designer, with a non-stop ability to churn out ideas and solutions to whatever needs or constraints you may have.

He is productive, professional, and a pleasure to work with.

Over the nearly 10 years I've known him, he has proved to be adaptable to any theme, genre, or toolset we've thrown at him, rapidly learning anything he didn't know and helping drive the team to new heights in a matter of moments from joining them.

If you need a game designer who can deliver and inspire - hire Ryan.

Mario Wynands (Chief Executive Officer at PikPok)

Ryan is one of the best designers I have ever had the opportunity to work with. He is creative, commercially minded, prolific, and a team player. He is able to work with tight time, technical, resource, or licensing constraints to produce innovative designs and solutions.

Brainstorming with him is fun and interesting, as he has broad experience, a plethora of ideas at any given moment, and happy to riff on others work in a collaborative setting.

Communications and social media savvy, Ryan is a great advocate for the team and the work both internally and externally.

Being upbeat, "can do", and optimistic also makes Ryan delightful to work with. Would love to work with him again in the future.

Dale Pugh (Art Director at A44 Games)

I have had the pleasure of working with Ryan on multiple titles.

He brings a ton of good energy and positivity to the team and his output is excellent. Ryan takes on feedback well and is flexible in his approach to design.

We have worked together on some fairly high pressure projects, with tight time frames and Ryan always maintained a cool head and professional attitude.

I would gladly work with him again, on any title.

Karah Sutton (Chief Publishing Officer at PikPok)

Ryan is a gem and PikPok was very lucky to have him. Extremely proactive, full of ideas and encouragement, always willing to pivot and pitch in to help the product be its best self. I am in awe of Ryan's creativity, business sense, pragmatism, and collaborative attitude. I hope our paths cross again in the future Ryan -- thank you for everything.