Imago

Game Design • Level Design • UX/UI • Professional Internship • FlashDevelop

Summary

Imago is an award-winning puzzle game developed by Arkadium, where I served as a Game Design Intern during my graduate studies. I contributed heavily to the game’s Daily Flight mode — designing and iterating over 200 level variations, creating several custom puzzle mechanics, integrating levels using professional tools, and supporting UX/UI design for the first time in my career.

During my internship, Imago received notable industry recognition, including being featured as a Best New Game on the iTunes App Store, earning a 4.7+ App Store rating, winning Best Game at the 2016 Big Indie Pitch (Pocket Gamer), and being nominated for Playcrafting’s Game of the Year. Seeing a game I worked on highlighted by Apple and celebrated across the industry was a defining moment in my early career.

Arkadium later invited me to stay on past the internship end date to support additional design work — an early and meaningful validation of my contribution.

(Imago was unpublished from stores circa 2020. This video is a recording of the game and it’s features)

Project Overview

While at Arkadium, I worked across design, iteration, integration, and UX for Imago, including:

Designing 200+ puzzle levels for Daily Flight
Creating multiple custom cube mechanics, including the Flower Tile and Chase the Butterfly
Balancing difficulty expectations for a competitive audience
Learning UX/UI design fundamentals and wireframing
Integrating levels using FlashDevelop
Supporting live production workflows across teams
Coordinating with an overseas QA team
Assisting with mechanics and puzzle concepts on other Arkadium titles

This was my first exposure to a full professional development pipeline, from spec writing to QA validation to mobile store submissions.

Tools Used

FlashDevelop – level integration and logic updates
Arkadium Proprietary Tools – puzzle creation and testing
Photoshop – UI sketches and visual references
Balsamiq – early interface wireframes
Google Suite – collaboration and communication tools

What I Worked On

Level Design

Designed, tested, and iterated 200+ levels for the Daily Flight game mode
Crafted progressive difficulty curves and pacing structures
Built modular templates for iterative design and future content creation
Integrated levels directly into the game using FlashDevelop

UX/UI Design

Learned foundational UX/UI practices
Created UI wireframes and interface sketches
Contributed to readability and user flow within Daily Flight
Collaborated with the UX team to align clarity, pacing, and visual communication

Production & Collaboration

Collaborated daily with designers, engineers, producers, and artists
Worked closely with an international QA team to validate content
Learned professional pipeline rhythms including iteration cycles, sprint planning, and handoff
Supported other Arkadium projects and prototypes
Was invited to stay past my internship to help support the design team after the lead designer’s departure

Integration & Technical Work

Integrated levels using FlashDevelop
Worked with Arkadium’s proprietary tools for testing, packaging, and QA sign-off
Prepared level data and notes for overseas QA
Debugged issues related to level logic, layout, and performance

Mechanic & System Design

Designed the core objectives and rule variations for Daily Flight levels, defining how players completed puzzles, earned points, and interacted with each day’s unique challenge
Created and refined the mechanics needed to achieve each objective, ensuring that every level offered a meaningful skill test and a clear path to mastery
Became highly proficient at Imago’s systems to balance target scores and challenge expectations for Daily Flight’s competitive player base, who engaged with the mode through Facebook leaderboards
Tuned difficulty by analyzing move efficiency, pacing, level flow, and the “feel” of what was realistically achievable for dedicated players
Designed and iterated on multiple custom puzzle mechanics, including:
- Flower Tile, a pattern-based blossom mechanic requiring spatial planning
- Chase the Butterfly, a timing-based mechanic involving a moving target that encouraged fast decision-making
Worked closely with the lead designer to integrate these mechanics into Daily Flight’s consistent-difficulty design philosophy
Helped establish the overall rhythm and feel of Daily Flight’s content, delivering puzzles that maintained a consistent challenge level while offering variety through mechanic choice, spatial layout, and player decision-making complexity

What I Learned

Working on Imago shaped my early career and taught me how to:

Design for a wide casual audience with deep skill ceilings
Iterate rapidly while maintaining quality
Prepare content for iOS and Android storefronts
Work inside a professional UX/UI pipeline
Communicate clearly across multiple disciplines
Collaborate effectively with overseas QA
Balance levels for competitive players
Support a live pipeline with high-content throughput

This was my first experience working inside a professional studio environment, and it transformed my understanding of pacing, polish, and production

Personal Reflection

Arkadium was the first professional studio where I truly felt myself growing into a designer. The team was warm, collaborative, and deeply supportive, and they trusted me with meaningful work from the moment I arrived. Their mentorship shaped everything from how I think about readability to how I communicate design intent.

Being asked to stay on past my internship was incredibly validating — a moment that meant a great deal to me as a young designer. Seeing Imago featured on the App Store, win the Big Indie Pitch, and earn a Game of the Year nomination made me feel proud not only of my own work, but of the team that believed in me.

This project gave me my first shipped content, my first industry recognition, and my first sense of true belonging in game development. It remains one of the most foundational experiences of my creative journey.