Ray Hsiao | <!-- -->Game Design & Development<!-- -->

Ray Hsiao

Game Design & Development

A gif of the opening of Hey, Girlie!, in which Kristen is intercepted by Principal Aguefort in the halls of Aguefort Adventuring Academy

Hey, Girlie!

A visual novel dating sim that encourages the player to pay attention, paralleling what the protagonist needs to work on in her relationships. Playable on itch.io. Code on GitHub.

I served as game director, designer, and engineer, leading an international team of 52 creatives.

**This is a Fantasy High fan project unaffiliated with Dimension 20 or Dropout.**

A gif of a 2D pixel shooter game, featuring lots of enemies swarming the player

Ondine: Prototype

A 2D pixel shooter centered around swapping weapons and surviving hordes. Play on Steam.

As a programmer for Pier38 from September 2024 - March 2025, I...

  • Delivered new features, including but not limited to unlockable levels, difficulty modes, tutorials, save system, and balance changes, ahead of schedule, reducing turnaround from 1 week to 1-3 days
  • Streamlined development process by rewriting C# code, reworking Unity scenes and prefabs, and organizing scripts
  • Overhauled art implementation by establishing consistent art import settings, replacing placeholder assets with final pixel art, simplifying animation state machines

A screenshot of a cross-armed brown man with a bun, red sunglasses, snake bites, wearing blood-splattered scrubs.

The Many Meow-steries of Tiramisu Apartments

A heartwarming kinetic visual novel with point-and-click elements developed in November 2024 (GitHub Game Off, 1 month). Playable in browser on itch.io. Code on GitHub.

As a programmer in a team of 7, I...

  • Implemented reusable framework for narrative and minigame using Unity, C#, and Yarn Spinner
  • Wrote step-by-step guides and documentation for writers and developers
  • Mentored two other programmers new to tech stack through pair programming and GitHub code reviews, empowering them to implement critical gameplay features by weekly sprint deadline
  • Flexed as 2D artist and visual designer for Marie-Elle, Dorian, main menu splash art, and credits

Text: progressive increase in intensity: easy jumps --> timed double jumps --> double jumping will kill you, must time single jumps well. Image: Level design prototype. Text: intense setpiece as dramatic finale to this section. reuses previous double jump timing in a new context. Image: Level design prototype.

Gold Lining

A narrative platformer about a Chinese American protagonist finding her way home from a fantastical realm which received $100k+ in funding from Microsoft ID@Xbox and Code Coven. No longer in development. Steam page.

As a level designer for Sondering Studio from June - September 2023, I...

  • Prototyped 4 playable levels in Unity as only level designer, iterating following feedback from studio leads
  • Designed puzzles to teach new mechanics (danger/respawning, breaking rocks to create platforms, light-based platforms), escalate known mechanics, communicate emotional experience, and escalate in difficulty

More details about my work can be found in this doc.