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Role: Producer, 3d artist, designer
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 27
Genre: Turn based Strategy/Resource management
Duration: 5 Months
S.T.A.R is an Isometric strategy-management game prototype built in Unity that has the player colonize planets in order to harvest resources and expand their empire
As the Producer for S.T.A.R., I was responsible for driving development across a large, multidisciplinary team of 27 developers. My focus was on structuring our workflow using Agile methodologies, keeping scope manageable, and ensuring we hit milestones without compromising the game’s core design vision. I built and maintained our development timeline, led sprint planning, and handled task delegation across design, programming, and art departments. Regular stand-ups, progress check-ins, and sprint retros helped keep the team aligned and the project moving forward. I also handled internal documentation, QA scheduling, and communication between departments to reduce friction during integration phases. Beyond logistics, I worked closely with the lead designer and engineers to mediate design pivots and ensure that player feedback during testing was incorporated into iterative builds. It was a balancing act between vision, scope, and practicality but a rewarding one. By launch, S.T.A.R. was fully playable in-browser on itch.io, and our team had a solid vertical slice that delivered on resource trading, raiding encounters, and multi-path exploration.
its more about the team than the game. With a great team, you can make just about anything. With a bad team, you cant make anything at all.
My role
When I signed on to produce S.T.A.R., I didn’t fully understand what being a producer meant. I figured it was about schedules, checklists, maybe a few spreadsheets. I learned pretty quickly that it was much more than that. It was about people. About stepping up when things got confusing. About being the one to carry the flag, especially when no one else was sure which direction to go.
Early in the project, I was introduced to Agile and SCRUM. Not in a textbook sense, but in a real-world, “we have 27 people and a deadline” sense. Sprint planning, stand-ups, retrospectives, it all clicked because we needed it to. We weren’t just managing tasks, we were trying to build something together. So I spent my time building a structure that could hold that process. I organized tasks across teams, made sure feedback actually turned into iteration, and tried to create a rhythm that let people do their best work without getting overwhelmed.
But leading S.T.A.R. wasn’t just about keeping the wheels turning. I wanted this team’s work to be seen. Not just as a school project, but as something real. So I started pushing for something bigger: taking the game to GDC. It was a long shot, but I put together proposals, helped coordinate funding, and worked with faculty to make it happen. And somehow, we did. SUNY Poly approved it, and we brought 13 students to San Francisco to represent our program and show off the game we made together.
Standing there with my teammates outside the convention center, ready to present S.T.A.R. to developers from around the world, was one of the proudest moments of my life. Not because everything went perfectly, but because I saw what it meant to lift a team, not just manage one. We were there because we believed in what we made. And I got to help bring that belief to life.
Producing S.T.A.R. taught me what leadership really looks like. It's not about being in charge, it’s about being in service. It’s about listening, adapting, and making sure no one gets left behind. And it’s about never letting the fear of failure stop you from chasing something bigger.
A Lauch-pad Built by others
I didn’t earn that award alone. The Leadership & Initiative Award may have had my name on it, but it belonged just as much to the people I worked beside. My team, my friends, and everyone who helped turn long nights and wild ideas into something real. I’m proud of what I did, but I’m even more proud of the people I did it with.
That moment, standing there with the plaque, was more than recognition. It was a turning point. It became my launchpad into grad school and the next chapter of my life. It helped me earn a place in the Game Design and Development Master’s program at RIT, where I had the chance to grow as both a designer and a leader.
That program shaped me. I learned to lead multi-disciplinary teams across entire production cycles. I built tools and pipelines to help others work faster. I designed levels, systems, and environments that put player experience first. And I got to study under developers and researchers who pushed me to think critically about the games we make and why they matter.
That award may have opened the door, but the work, the people, and the lessons I took with me are what made me ready to walk through it.