Prof Brown has been a game designer for over fifteen years, working in both AAA and indie spaces, and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. They specialize in gameplay design, game feel, and help drive accessibility initiatives on their various projects.
They have worked in gameplay systems design at both Firewalk Studios and at Bungie, designing and implementing character kits, player abilities, weapons and build perks. They made exotic armor and weapons for Destiny 2 between launch and the Beyond Light expansion. Prof also led the initiative for controller remapping for accessibility on Destiny 2 and the entire accessibility initiative at Firewalk. At Heart Machine, they were a level designer on Hyper Light Drifter, designing and building levels for the 2D action RPG using a custom game engine extension in GameMaker. They got their start as designer at Insomniac Games, working on several games including Sunset Overdrive and Resistance 3.
As an indie game creator, Prof has released several experimental personal games, including finished games and loads of game jams. Titles include Imaginal – a game where the player catches fireflies. Imperfection – where you must defeat a possessed version of a childhood boardgame, and Prop Hell – a theater-inspired roguelite dungeon crawler where you have to find props while avoiding prop golems.
When not making games, Prof can be found writing! They published a cozy creature fantasy novel, An Unlikely Flock, in October of 2022. They’d be hard at work writing their second novel if they didn’t keep getting distracted by writing fanfiction.
Prof Brown is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, and they enjoy mentoring mid-career designers and doing deep-dive design analysis. They continue to speak to college students at their alma mater and other universities, and have extensive experience at conventions and conferences, discussing topics as varied as career choices, why they like roguelikes, and accessibility in gaming.
Prof also loves cosplaying and building masks and you may see them out on the floor at the event!
You can learn more about Prof Brown on on LinkTree, where they collect links to their video game talks and more, and on Bluesky as @wertle.bsky.social.
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