Zach Northrop
Game Designer
Email: zachnorthrop@gmail.com
Email: zachnorthrop@gmail.com
Please click on each project to see additional information as well as trailers/gameplay footage.
Educational Game Design Intern & Game Designer (Contract)
I work on Epic's Education and Learning team creating example content that teaches creators about how to use Fortnite Creative to make engaging gameplay experiences. My contributions include Template Islands (below) and over 70 small tutorials that teach creators to design and implement individual game mechanics called "Design Examples":
Tools: Fortnite Creative, Unreal Editor for Fortnite, Perforce, Jira
Template Islands are full game experiences, delivered with accompanying tutorial documentation detailing how to construct the game, aimed at teaching creators how to work in Fortnite Creative. In my primary solo project as an intern, I used new Patchwork music devices to create a game with a fully adaptive score to teach fundamental game music principles as well as good core game design practices. The tutorial documentation can be found here, and my presentation of the template can be viewed in the video to the right (my presentation begins at 1:14:23).
Tools: Unity, Perforce, Jira
Gameplay Design Intern
Saleblazers is a co-op survival shopkeeping game in which players gather resources, construct their shop, and survive the night alone or with up to 8 friends. from Airstrafe Interactive. As an intern, I contributed to many aspects of the game, including the core vision and narrative direction, the open world level design (layout diagram from development to the left), resource/crafting systems, character design, and system balancing. I collaborated with the ~12 person indie team throughout my internship, participating in daily standups and frequent meetings with engineers, artists, other designers, and the game's director.
Saleblazers is currently in Early Access on Steam with over 1,200 87% positive reviews.
Game Designer, Sole Engineer, Audio Lead
Curtain Call is a wholesome visual novel in which players build trust with three distinct characters and explore the social masks that they use to hide their true selves. I was very involved in the collaborative design of many of the game's core mechanics and systems, including the "Trust" system, navigation and progression systems, dialogue system, and additional quality of life features. I worked closely with the ~5 person indie team to establish and meet production goals and design new mechanics in regular meetings throughout development.
Curtain Call released on Steam with 50+ 94% positive reviews.
Tools: Unity/C#, GitHub, Jira
Beyond my design contributions, I was also in charge of the game programming in C# within Unity, including core dialogue systems (using Yarn Spinner), progression, accessibility features, audio systems, and much of the art implementation. I additionally served as the audio lead, designing sounds and working with our composer to design and implement an adaptive score.
Tools: Unity/C#, Plastic
Technical Game Designer, Audio Lead
Entropy is an experimental movement game about maintaining momentum while grappling between chaotic, fast-moving galaxies. I contributed to the overall design of the game as well as designing and programming the foundational galaxy movement mechanics and progression systems. In addition to my design contributions, I created and implemented all of the audio in the game, including the adaptive soundtrack.
Entropy released on Steam with 170+ 95% positive reviews.
I began as a musician, playing drums and percussion throughout middle school and high school. As I began to branch out into other artistic pursuits, I discovered a love of creating music and audio for games that evolved into a passion for game development more broadly. I finished my undergraduate degree in Interactive Entertainment with minors in Game Audio and Video Game Programming at the University of Southern California in 2024. I'm now spending my time freelancing and working on my own independent projects!
I love creating and implementing game mechanics that help to create powerful and compelling player experiences. Some of my favorite games include The Beginner's Guide, Balatro, ABZÛ, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and Rocket League.
Email: zachnorthrop@gmail.com LinkedIn