Mickaël Pratali

Context

An action/adventure game released in an unstable state with numerous design issues, resulting in widely negative player feedback and reviews at launch.

At the time of my involvement, only 33% of players recommended the game on Steam.

The team needed an outside perspective to identify critical priorities and plan quick, effective and realistic improvements through corrective patches.

Objective

Improve the game's quality as much as possible through a series of corrective patches, targeting player experience and overall coherence, despite significant budget and technical constraints.

Actions taken

• Full game analysis: systems, flow, UI, combat, progression and readability
• GD/LD organization and editing tools audit, followed by recommendations and the implementation of data configuration outsourcing to accelerate and stabilize iterations
• Integration into the development team, mentoring of game & level designers, collaboration with producers
• Gameplay overhaul: reworked controls, added quality-of-life options, more coherent rules
• Signs & feedbacks improvements to clarify interactions and strengthen gamefeel
• Global rebalancing, including targeted improvements to boss fights
• HUD redesign and reorganization of key information
• Writing a franchise report: its fundamentals, design pillars and future outlook

Key takeaway

This assignment demonstrates my ability to step in during a crisis, prioritize high-impact improvements, and work effectively under tight budget and technical constraints.

Context

An action/platformer game significantly behind schedule: only one complete playable level three months before alpha, with numerous fundamental issues.

The team was facing strong technical constraints and an urgent need to prioritize and structure the workflow.

I was brought in directly by the publisher to step in and get the project back on track.

Objective

Enable the game to meet its content goals and release date while significantly improving its quality.

Actions taken

• Full development state analysis: game design, gameplay, UI/UX, quality of levels in progress, review of editing methods and tools, license compliance.
• Playtest organization: live observation of player behavior and reactions.
• On-site meetings with the team: oral presentation of the analysis, discussions around initial improvement ideas for the game and pipeline.
• Level design golden rules definition to harmonize level construction and accelerate production.
• RLD optimization: better distribution of gameplay building blocks, progressive introduction of game mechanics, difficulty rebalancing, level theming and improved overall pacing.
• Onboarding and tutorialization overhaul to clarify the fundamentals and improve the initial player experience.
• Daily follow-up on game & level design progress: regular feedback, improvement proposals, writing of supplementary design documents.
• Gameplay improvements (responsiveness, precision), boss fight enhancements, and signs & feedbacks reinforcement.
• Close collaboration with producers and cross-functional teams (programming, art, sound design) to ensure coherence and feasibility of objectives.
• Regular progress reporting to the publisher, participation in meetings.

Key takeaway

This assignment demonstrates my ability to intervene early to prevent crises, structure an effective workflow and turn around a project in difficulty.