A premium action-adventure on Unreal Engine 3, built as a mobile answer to God of War. Co-developed with Platige Image, the Oscar-nominated animation studio. My first job in games.
“AAA mobile gaming experience.” — Games in Asia, 8/10
Status: Released 2014, no longer updated
Role: Game Designer, first role in the industry
Developer: Vivid Games, co-developed with Platige Image
Genre: Action-adventure, hack and slash
Platform: iOS, Android
Engine & Tools: Unreal Engine 3
Contribution: Survival Mode design · arena layouts and encounter rules (co-design) · cutscenes · F2P conversion assessment
First assignment: Survival Mode
“the Survival mode is actually more enjoyable than the main storyline” — 148Apps
148Apps published a critical review of the game and highlighted Survival Mode as a positive exception.
The story campaign ran seven levels at around ten minutes each. Survival Mode unlocked after the player finished it. Endless waves, each one stronger than the last, with power-ups chosen before the fight and gifts handed out between waves.
In my very first job in the industry I designed the arenas, the encounter rules and the cutscenes for the arcade modes with help and guidance from: Wojciech Dziuk, Andrew Dzieża and Oskar Maleszko, all of them experienced level designers.
We focused on physical space to handle the escalating wave counts. The layouts dictated where enemies entered and where the player could retreat.
We built environmental hazards directly into the arenas. Deadly Heights featured a central lethal drop. Lava Pit included a hazard that changed the floor layout as the fight progressed.
We designed three arcade modes in total. Two shipped with the base game. Work on the third stopped when the collaboration with Platige ended, and the title received no further updates.
Free-to-Play Conversion
The studio dropped the plan to convert the game to free-to-play but Godfire lacked a repeatable loop to monetise. The game was a premium action-adventure with a linear campaign.
Adding a functional economy required rebuilding the core structure. We priced this effort against the projected return, and the calculation returned a negative result.
We moved onto the same job on Real Boxing, where the loop was already repeatable and the model fit.
Godfire is where we learned that a monetization model is a structural decision tightly connected to the core gameplay loop.
Former head of QA, Vivid Games
I had the pleasure of working alongside Mateusz on several AAA mobile game projects. Mat is an exceptional game designer whose talent shines in the way he pitches ideas. From a brief chat in the company corridors to a fully realized concept in the game, he brings his visions to life with remarkable independence. His dedication is evident in the extensive documentation he prepares (we called it “Magic Scrolls of Design” back in the day), and he also has a great skill to rally more people behind any concept. I recommend Mat to anyone looking for a creative and committed game designer capable of adding unique value to any project.
