While at Mobile Pie I worked from start to finish on a free to play game called My Star, for the iPhone,  iPad and iPod touch. My Star was a game developed in partnership with Orange, where the player pilots their star to fame and fortune by practicing instruments, posting posters and recording songs. Players can also purchase clothing items and furniture to decorate their Star Pad to make their character look like a pop star.

I spent time researching the freemium model itself (as this was new territory for Mobile Pie at the time), player purchase drivers and other games that use micro-transactions to generate revenue. I also created a comprehensive list of items to be included in the game and accomplished this by using the design documentation as a reference while also drawing inspiration from celebrity homes, popular fashions and designer items. I also included basic / everyday items to ensure the there was room for the players to progress and also to make premium items more desirable by comparison. After finalizing this list I assisted  in setting prices for each item and deciding which should be premium items that the player will have to pay for with real world money.

During development wrote up and maintained the game design documentation and designed initial concepts for mini games to be included later in development. A lot of my time was spent iterating on these in response to feedback and supporting programmers to quickly respond to design changes and new developments.

I feel that working on this project has improved my ability to design for different genres and demographics, while keeping the player’s experience the main focus at all times.

My Star is free to play and can be found here.