Project Description
Rayman Adventures
Role: Content Director / Lead Designer
Team Size: 25+
Duties: Content Direction, Game & Level Design Direction, Design Documentation, Mock-ups, Writing
Status: Commercial title, released on iOS, AppleTV and Android in 2015
RAYMAN ADVENTURES is a platformer for smartphones, tablets and AppleTV.
As Content Director, it was my job to oversee most aspects of the game including (but not limited to) controls, level design, user interface, gameplay element production, and monetization. I had to work very closely with all members of the art, design, programming and production teams on a daily basis. On top of that, I had to act as act as a relay between the creative director and the team, as well as the Ubisoft editorial team.
Acting as Lead Designer on the project as well, I was tasked with preparing majority of the level design briefs for the two level designers, as well as ensuring the quality of their work and guiding them throughout the process. I reviewed their work with them regularly, and provided problem solving support whenever needed. I also wrote majority of the design documentation for the game, and held the design vision for the project.
Apart from my major responsibilities, during the course of the creation of Rayman Adventures I have also done gameplay element prototyping, animation, level design, UI mock-ups, design documents, internal and external presentations, scripting, writing and much more.
RAYMAN ADVENTURES maintained a 4.8 star review score on the App store, and received Apple’s AppleTV Game of the Year, as well as Apple’s 2nd place iPad Game of the Year. In January 2023, the game was unfortunately delisted from both the Android and App stores for reasons I’m not aware of.
I got to know Chris while working with him on Rayman Adventures as his HQ line designer, and discovered what an excellent game designer he is. Chris is full of cool ideas, open minded, reactive, good at owning and defending the game’s vision, but also able to receive feedback and make them his own when they make sense for the game (the mark of a good creative director in my humble opinion).During RA’s ups and downs, Chris also demonstrated that he can stay level-headed and focused on the vision & final goal, which helped a lot to lead his team through the various stages of development. Cooperating with Chris on RA was and still is a great experience, and I’d certainly enjoy working with him on new projects if we have the chance!
Chris is a very talented and efficient game designer and manager. I am very happy to have worked in his team under his guidance. He understands his co-workers and their needs and can efficiently assign them tasks best suited for their skills. I also noticed that he always seeks to improve himself and his product and, as such, is not afraid to ask for feedback on his management style and the direction of the project from any team member.
While working on Rayman Adventures, Chris demonstrated he was able to work under stress and tight deadlines, constantly and effectively communicating between the development team and the requests of his managers, which led to the team being up-to-date and aware of any issues, but also the vision and plans for the game.It was a pleasure to work under Chris’ leadership and I am sure he will only improve in the future.
