Game and Narrative Design
What do you want to play?
Ian M Smith is an experienced and empathetic game designer with an emphasis in cross-disciplinary collaboration and a passion for crafting games and narratives that delight and inspire the player. Ian is an exceptional communicator with a keen eye for detail, strong organizational skills, and a knack for finding the fun.
In addition, Ian is also an adept creative writer, graphic designer, and software developer - a diverse set of skills that allow Ian to bring a unique and holistic perspective to game creation.
Experience
Meta (contract)
Game Designer / Producer
2024 - current
Sole Game Designer on Facebook Play Product team, owning design, tuning, and content evaluation while leading end-to-end production of diverse, player-centric game initiatives. Built and scaled the process for designing, AI prototyping, and beta testing internal game concepts.
DoubleDown Interactive
Game Design Manager
2021 - 2023
Managed a fully remote game design team with a focus on rapid pre-production design. Lead cross-disciplinary and international creative teams including Art, UX, Game Design, and Copywriting. Worked with the Product team to identify areas of business opportunity and pitch relevant games.
DoubleDown Interactive
Senior Game Designer
2019-2021
Developed tools and structures to streamline content creation consistency and efficiency. Lead Game Designer and Narrative Designer on casual casino adventure title. Created story structure, systems design, and economy.
IGT
Senior Producer
2017-2018
Owned content pipeline, coordinating a six-month development cycle to deliver biweekly releases. Served as the central point of communication between designers, developers, artists, marketing, and legal. Created original jackpot, daily challenge, and live ops features.
DoubleDown Interactive
Producer
2016-2017
Coordinated translation of slot games from land to social casino, including selecting appropriate models, strategizing how to adapt or recreate art packages for mobile devices, and project management for content creation teams. Received “Big Win” Employee recognition award.
DoubleDown Interactive
Mobile Developer
2013-2016
Full stack web development with a focus on a JavaScript webview app. Delivered game content that maximized visual quality while ensuring compatibility for older devices. Established training procedures for incoming developers. Primary point of contact between Art and Design teams.
Expertise
Skills
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Holistic Systems Design
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Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
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Game Lifecycle Production
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Narrative Design
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Humble Leadership
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Creative Problem Solving
Tools
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Unreal Blueprint Prototyping
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Unity / C#
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Python
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Atlassian Jira / Confluence
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Adobe Creative Suite
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Excel Wizardry