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Heavy Metal Machines is a free-to-play, fast-paced vehicular MOBA with intense multiplayer battles
👤 My Role
Title: Game Designer
Project Phase: Closed Beta through Live Operations
Focus Areas: Character & Ability Design, Combat Balance, LiveOps, Gameplay Prototyping, Internal Tools, UX & Player Systems
🛠 Key Responsibilities & Contributions
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Owned the end-to-end design of four shipped characters for Heavy Metal Machines (Icebringer, Stargazer, Peacemaker, and Vulture), from concept and prototyping through implementation, tuning, release, and post-launch iteration.
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Designed complete character kits and gameplay loops, creating distinct ability synergies and opportunities for player mastery.
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Served as design owner throughout character production, coordinating Engineering, VFX, Animation, Art, and Audio from concept through release while managing gameplay alignment, quality, scope, and tradeoffs.
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Prototyped and implemented character gameplay using proprietary visual scripting tools, and helped shape internal ability-authoring tools that expanded designer autonomy and supported more complex kits.
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Reworked existing characters, improving gameplay depth, kit clarity, balance, and competitive viability.
Owned LiveOps combat balance across the roster, using analytics, player feedback, and playtesting to guide post-launch tuning. -
Designed social and player-safety features and conducted UX and onboarding tests, improving player interactions and the first-time user experience.
CHARACTERS
During my time on Heavy Metal Machines, I owned the end-to-end design of four characters: Icebringer, Stargazer, Peacemaker, and Vulture. My work covered character concept and gameplay goals, complete ability kits, prototyping and implementation, balance, cross-disciplinary production, release, and post-launch iteration. Each character was designed around a distinct gameplay identity and mastery loop while fulfilling specific needs within the roster.
Icebringer was the first character for which I led the full character-design process. His gameplay was built around controlling space and disrupting opponents through freezing mechanics, while his large Ice Truck introduced a very different movement profile from the rest of the roster. Designing him required balancing that unique vehicle identity with clear combat strengths, weaknesses, and team utility.
