Projects

Here's a sample of my public work. There's a ton more, reach out if you'd like to see it.

goodtap 2024

Why? Because I was somewhat dissatisfied with how Carolina's Café Colombiane turned out, I wanted to build another mobile game, but do it my way. I had an idea for a game where you play as a doggo sleuth who uncovers secret messages by good tapping. I also wanted to include a musical component.

How? After taking a few days to plan, I built the first twelve levels in one day each. This forced me to introduce new gameplay elements gradually, establishing a nice steady pace for the gameplay. Every time I created a new level, I copied and pasted the previous level and then added a new feature. This way, each new level feels similar to but slightly different from the previous. The game is built almost entirely of UI buttons and audio that I recorded using my voice.

Technologies: Unity, C#, Audacity, Paint.NET, and many others.

Code Demo Get it on Google Play

Lightbringer Lucifer 2020 - 2024

Why? As a child, I often dreamed of falling from a high place. The moment I reached the ground, I woke up, my head hitting the pillow forcefully. The sensation reminds me of the story of Lucifer being cast out of heaven. I wrote an unfinished poem to capture that feeling, from which I drew inspiration for the game. This was my final project for Create with Code. I was in a dark place after getting laid off at the start of the pandemic and I felt trapped. I channeled these feelings into the game mechanics.

How? At the start, you fall from a great height into a deep well. Hitting one of the four walls changes the player object to align with and move along the new wall, creating a 2D effect in a 3D game. Since the player object is a sphere, I had to build a function to prevent the player from drifting outside the playable area. The player's eye shines a light toward the nearest objective. In 2024, I released GOD MODE. Unlocked after completing the game, this mode gives the player infinite stamina.

Technologies: Unity, C#, Audacity, Paint.NET, and many others.

Code Demo

Carolina's Café Colombiane 2023

Why? Built for the Con Latinidad game jam. I wanted to make a game that honors my wife Carolina's Colombian heritage while telling stories inspired by her family and sharing the joy of Colombian cuisine.

How? I had a game concept in mind from the beginning of this game jam, so I decided to take the lead on game design. In addition to game design and project management, I edited all of the game's text for spelling and grammar and partially translated the text into Spanish. I also fully tested the game, built and published the game, and assisted with code and production.

Technologies: Unity, C#, Node-Based Dialogue System, Paint.NET, and many others.

Code Demo

TomatOH! 2023

Why? Created in 48 hours for GMTK Game Jam 2023, with the surprise theme of Roles Reversed. This was my third time participating in the annual event, but it was the first time that I was satisfied with the results.

How? Applying lessons learned from my first two GMTK jams, I found a team early and organized an 8-hour practice jam two weeks before the event started. This strategy helped us work through some technical issues and perfect our team dynamic, to produce a fun game within the time limit. I was responsible for code, testing, and project management. The whole team worked together nicely to invent and develop the concept. I'm proud of what we accomplished!

Technologies: Unity, C#, Audacity, Paint.NET, and many others.

Code Demo

Jezzak 2022

Why? After I worked on Supreme Tic-Tac-Toe, my friend Tracey invited me to test and proofread his latest project, Jezzak, for the Playdate handheld console. This was the first time that I was paid to work on another person's game.

How? I started by playing through each of the levels, leaving feedback in a document that was provided by the client. After that, I combed through the text in the code, correcting typos and submitting the changes through Github as a pull request.

Technologies: LUA, Playdate SDK, and many others.

Playdate Itch

Jumpin' Josef! 2022

Why? This was my final project for my Intro to Programming course, offered by the University of London through Coursera.

How? A short platformer built in P5.js. I recorded and edited all the sound effects, including the music. I designed all the visual aspects too. Clouds float by in the background thanks to a constructor function.

Technologies: Javascript, P5.js, HTML, Paint.NET, Audacity, and many others.

Code Demo

Supreme Tic-Tac-Toe 2020

Why? My friend Tracey built a game. It was full of typos. Rather than complain, I decided to fix them myself. Once I got into it, I couldn't help but add some content of my own.

How? After playing the game a few times, I noted several typos. I used Visual Studio's search function, plugging in one of the misspelled words to discover where it existed in the code. Although I was unfamiliar with LUA, I was able to reverse-engineer the code structure sufficiently to modify the game text. I looked through each of the game files, correcting typos as I found them, and contributing some small additions.

Technologies: Love 2D, LUA, and many others.

Code Demo

Atomic Chicken Fart 2020 - 2021

Why? I built this game for Create with Code. I wanted to make something dead simple a la Flappy Bird. I thought it would be funny to have a gas-propelled chicken.

How? In the spirit of keeping it simple, I limited the controls to a single input. The player can tap anywhere or press the spacebar to fart, increasing the chicken's speed and propelling it upward toward the deadly spikes. The player must fart to avoid obstacles. I spent a good chunk of time fine-tuning the fart noises and particle effects and I'm quite pleased with the results. I think this one is hilarious. It also happens to be my first mobile-friendly game.

Technologies: Unity, C#, and many others.

Code Demo

About

Hi, I'm Grant.

I've been building and leading teams for 9 years. I love remote work. I have what it takes to build and lead effective remote teams.

I'm a skipped-a-generation software engineer and confessed problem-solving addict. I've been writing code for 20 years. I've been a video game designer for 3 years. My background is in information technology and project management.

I build video games. My passion is gameplay mechanics. I love simple controls that feel fun. I know math and product management.

I am at home in Unity and C#. I also know vanilla JavaScript and P5.js. I have dipped my toes into Love2D and LUA. I follow Agile development principles and use frameworks like Scrum and Kanban.

I am fluent in translating customer feedback into user stories. I am proficient with DevOps and Waterfall. I am skilled at maximizing quality and velocity through feedback loops.

I know some HTML and CSS, too.

There's a whole host of other tools in my toolbox proportional to my experience. Contact me if you'd like to hear more about those.

Cheers!

Contact

I'd love to chat. I'm looking for problems worth solving, a place that will challenge me, and a place where I can grow.

Let's do something awesome.

Show my number grant@grantgotgame.com LinkedIn GitHub