MICHAEL MANSON
Hi,
I’m Michael Manson, a professional and passionate Game Designer, Developer and Creator of Narrative Experiences for over 20 years. I work with a diverse group of people to create exciting, immersive, and powerful stories in a variety of Media.
As Creative Director, Developer and Designer for my own company, Stout Heart Games, I have enjoyed working with others to create stories, mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics within games in all their forms leading to Pick-A-Pocket winning multiple awards.
In the last few years, I have worked as a Quality Analyst/Lead on products developed for international companies such as Google with my Director commenting that “without your efforts on [The Project - NDA] we wouldn’t have won the new statement of work or done as well as we have with [client - NDA]“
Having previously worked as a Lead Teacher/Acting Principal in country locations I have developed my adaptability and ability to give and apply critical feedback.
Outside of work, I am likely building my ever-expanding portfolio of game designs(available on Steam, Google Play Store and at stout-heart-games.itch.io), enjoying life with my family, or helping other creators bring concepts and ideas to life.
I am looking for new opportunities to collaborate and build new universes and worlds for players to explore, share and immerse themselves in.
Want to discuss any interesting opportunities? Send me a message at mpmanson@gmail.com and check out my Resume.
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Skills
Concepting
Ideas, Images, Characters, Story, Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics. I have built concepts for others, liaised with artists to have my ideas brought to life and developed and pitched to companies including Google and Ravensburger.
Quality Assurance
I have been creating and running functional and release test plans for pre-release, released and live-service games. Teams I have led have seen up to a 400% increase in bugs ticketed. Working as a QA lead I have scheduled and run release testing from prototype through release candidates to get coverage and team visibility across multiple departments and improve the outcomes of games.
Story
I have a love of developing and sharing stories. From adding themes to quick card games through to the universe-building of RPGs, I have been creating narratives for games as a Games Master for over 20 years.
Project Management
I have led ideas development through concepts, pitched to international companies and completed projects sold through a variety of portals. I have worked both on-site and remotely to deliver products to specific timelines, lead groups with Kanban, Burndowns, Sprints and Scrums, scoping and rescoping to deliver excellent products for clients on time.
Collaboration
I have assisted and directed other developers to help themdevelop their ideas and collaborated in Game Jams and cross-company Games Development.
Level Design
From Grey boxing through to Gold I have developed levels based on other designers ideas, real life locations and my own creations. I have taken critical feedback and iterated to create immersion, balance, flow and player enjoyment.
Projects
Video Games
Check out the Video Games I have been building in Unity.
Tabletop Games
Card, Board and Roleplaying Games in Print and Play and Digital formats.
Narrative Experiences
Designing and Running Experiences at a number of events and conventions including AVCon, Street Geek, PAX Australia, ConCentric, The Art Gallery of South Australia.