Hello, I’m Aaron!
I’m an accomplished and versatile game designer and leader with experience in programming and production as well. With 15 years of development experience in teams large and small, I’ve had time to hone my craft both as a designer and as a leader with a focus on clear, honest communication and best-practice production process.
As an individual contributor, I’m proud to bring my eclectic experience to the table as a game designer and creative director; Before my career in games, I wrote and performed music, led a volunteer-staffed nonprofit music venue, recorded and produced bands, and even directed and edited short films. The creativity and teamwork inherent in music and film have helped to inform my approach to game development.
As a game designer, I pride myself on getting to what I would call “80% solutions” to design problems quickly, but always pushing to get that remaining 20% before calling it “done.” My experience as a programmer has helped to hone my sense of systems thinking, allowing me to catch potential exploits and limitations at the design phase while always keeping in mind how changes affect the player experience.
As a leader, I have endeavored to deliberately improve my skills by seeking out feedback and reading. My first true leadership role came early in my career, shortly after college. I was fortunate to be in a position to make a lot of mistakes quickly and to have a team willing to give me constructive feedback. I was also fortunate to help grow the studio to 80+ and an acquisition by EA, making key hiring and process decisions while leading ongoing development of the studio’s two flagship titles.
In my experience, games are made or broken on the strength of leadership, management, and process far more often than on the skills of individual contributors. Whether I’m in the former role or the latter, I work every day to help my team be the best team it can be while producing great work.
When I’m not playing or making games, I also write, make music, dabble in film production, and tweet too much.