Ion Hardie, Zach Young, Yaroslav Yanovsky

Ion Hardie: Slide slides & audio(46 MB)

Struggling to find the desire to make your “casual” market game when you really want to make the next great shooter? You’re not alone. More and more games are getting created that are trying to cash in on the casual craze, and more “hardcore” game projects are languishing unfinished and unreleased.

How can you create the game you want to make and not “cross over to the dark side” of puzzle and seek-and-find gaming boredom? The answer may not be simple, but your goal sure is: You need to find something great in every game you make, regardless of the genre. If you’re bored making your game, you’ve got a big problem.

Come join a discussion with 3 experienced developers who have crossed back and forth onto both sides of the dark and light sides of the casual game space in a sordid tale of bullets, explosions and match-3 puzzle goodness.

Delivered at Casual Connect Amsterdam, February 2008

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Ion Hardie (email)

Ion Hardie is the Director of Product Development for Reflexive Entertainment, the Southern California based developer of well-known titles such as Big Kahuna Reef, Wik and the Ricochet series of games.

As one of the founding partners of Reflexive in 1997, Ion has received credit in various capacaties on every game Reflexive has developed. His credits include Level Design, Game Design, Product Manager, Writer and Sound Effects Designer. Most recently, he was the Lead Level Designer on Big Kahuna Reef 2 and Lead Level Designer and Sound Effects Designer on Wik: Fable of Souls for XBLA, which won the AIAS award for Downloadable Game of the Year.
Ion is also actively involved with the Reflexive Arcade, Reflexive’s game distribution and affiliate system. Launched in 2003, the Reflexive Arcade has grown to be a significant portion of Reflexive’s overall business.

Zach Young (email)

Zach Young is a Game Designer and has been working at Reflexive Entertainment for the past 9 years. Zach has worked on Reflexive’s Ricochet and Big Kahuna Reef series as well as Wik and the Fable of Souls and most recently The Great Tree. His credits include art, design, programming, sound effects, music and web page design. Zach also is hands on in helping design out the Reflexive Arcade system, which continues to evolve.

Yaroslav Yanovsky (email)

Yaroslav Yanovsky is a founder of Enkord and has served as CEO since company establishment in 2003. Enkord is one of the most successful casual games companies in Ukraine. In Enkord Yaroslav not only manages business side of things but also takes creative roles from time to time acting as game designer and producer of various titles. He designed most of successful Enkord titles like Clash’N Slash, Jewel of Atlantis, Jurassic Realm, Emerald Tale, and others. Yaroslav holds a MA in Information Management from the Kyiv National Economical University.

HOME \| LECTURES & ARTICLES \| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT \| PASSION vs. FINANCIAL: VISIONS OF HALO IN A BEJEWELED MARKET slides & audio(46 MB) Struggling to find the desire to make your “casual” market game when you really want to make the next great shooter? You’re not alone. More and more games are getting created that are trying to cash in on the casual craze, and more “hardcore” game projects are languishing unfinished and unreleased. How can you create the game you want to make and not “cross over to the dark side” of puzzle and seek-and-find gaming boredom? The answer may not be simple, but your goal sure is: You need to find something great in every game you make, regardless of the genre. If you’re bored making your game, you’ve got a big problem. Come join a discussion with 3 experienced developers who have crossed back and forth onto both sides of the dark and light sides of the casual game space in a sordid tale of bullets, explosions and match-3 puzzle goodness. Delivered at Casual Connect Amsterdam, February 2008 DOWNLOAD Ion Hardie (email) Ion Hardie is the Director of Product Development for Reflexive Entertainment, the Southern California based developer of well-known titles such as Big Kahuna Reef, Wik and the Ricochet series of games. As one of the founding partners of Reflexive in 1997, Ion has received credit in various capacaties on every game Reflexive has developed. His credits include Level Design, Game Design, Product Manager, Writer and Sound Effects Designer. Most recently, he was the Lead Level Designer on Big Kahuna Reef 2 and Lead Level Designer and Sound Effects Designer on Wik: Fable of Souls for XBLA, which won the AIAS award for Downloadable Game of the Year. Ion is also actively involved with the Reflexive Arcade, Reflexive’s game distribution and affiliate system. Launched in 2003, the Reflexive Arcade has grown to be a significant portion of Reflexive’s overall business. Zach Young (email) Zach Young is a Game Designer and has been working at Reflexive Entertainment for the past 9 years. Zach has worked on Reflexive’s Ricochet and Big Kahuna Reef series as well as Wik and the Fable of Souls and most recently The Great Tree. His credits include art, design, programming, sound effects, music and web page design. Zach also is hands on in helping design out the Reflexive Arcade system, which continues to evolve. Yaroslav Yanovsky (email) Yaroslav Yanovsky is a founder of Enkord and has served as CEO since company establishment in 2003. Enkord is one of the most successful casual games companies in Ukraine. In Enkord Yaroslav not only manages business side of things but also takes creative roles from time to time acting as game designer and producer of various titles. He designed most of successful Enkord titles like Clash’N Slash, Jewel of Atlantis, Jurassic Realm, Emerald Tale, and others. Yaroslav holds a MA in Information Management from the Kyiv National Economical University.