Rick Kolesar Email & Phone Number

• Lead Game Designer | Gameplay | System Design | UI&UX | Art
• Designed Microsoft Jewel 2 game that introduced new mechanics and gameplay to the match 3 genre.
• Designed Mahjong by Microsoft for mobile platforms. Created a new XP unlocking system unique to this game.
• Also designed Microsoft Gem Drop, Microsoft Jewel 1, Microsoft Bubble and helped support many of the studio’s other titles.

• Lead Game Designer | Gameplay | System Design
• Creation of levels, mechanics, special events, and balance of player progression for the game BeSwitched.
• Live support for BeSwitched including new levels, new mechanics, general game balance, and bug fixing.
• Lead designed and iteration on a prototype for a multiplayer console title.

Redmond, WA, US

• Lead Game Designer | Gameplay & System Design | UI/UX | Product Manager
• Managed internal and external teams to create Unity and HTML5 games.
• Responsible for all game design and development, from concept to ship.
• Created and designed the original game Swipe 3.
• Games include - Solitaire with Themes suite, Video Poker, Blackjack, WildTangent Casino, Polar Bowler Slots, Super 7’s Slots, Slot Collection, Gem Match, Happy Matchy Bird, Poker Play, and Swipe 3.

San Francisco, California, US

• Game Designer | System Design | Game Balance
• Prototyped with devs & artists on new mechanics, experiences, and concepts.
• Worked with producers and analysts to create gameplay experiments that bettered the product.
• Created challenging levels & mechanics to keep the audience engaged in Puzzle Charms.
• Increased retention by redesigning the FTUE, levels 1-10, and designing new Boss Battle encounters.

Seattle, WA, US

• Senior Game Designer | Gameplay | Prototyping | UX
• Part of an incubation team that created the Game SDK for the Amazon Fire Phone.
• Created games that showcased the 3D depth cameras, face tracking, and augmented reality built into the phone.
• Worked closely with external studios to set up, brainstorm, and design games for the Amazon Fire Phone.

Redmond, Washington, US

• Game Design | UI/UX | Level Design | Gameplay
• Kinect Star Wars - Gray boxed levels, wrote-up beat sheets, and created level breakdowns for the Speeder Bike levels.
• Kinect Star Wars - Redesigned, created, and implemented a new UI solution for the Podracer and Rancor Modes.
• Kinect Fun Labs - Worked closely with devs to rapidly create and animate UI elements in Flash, Scaleform & Unreal Engine.

• Graphic Design | 3D Animation | 3D Modeling
• Created original art to promote games and features for the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
• Animate 3D Avatars for the Xbox dashboard and the Windows Phone 7 app Avatar Gadgets.

Redmond, Washington, US

• Game Artist | Art Management | UI/UX | Tech/Effect Artist | Game Design/Ideation
• Managed the artists & art pipeline for Fable II Pub Games. Worked closely with the dev team on effects and optimization.
• Helped create standards for GamerTiles, System Themes, and Achievements for the Xbox 360 system.
• Worked on a small team to bring Hexic HD (the first Xbox 360 Arcade game) to the console in time for the console launch.
• Other casual games include - Uno, Uno Rush, Quarto, Hop-It, Hexic 2, Full House Poker, and many prototypes.

Alameda, CA, US

• 3D Modeling | Project Lead
• Worked as Project Lead and was responsible for delegating work to other artists.
• Work included modeling and texturing 70,000+ capacity sport arenas with attention on keeping the arena structurally correct.
• 3D models were then used to view different seat locations in 3D panoramas for customers looking to purchase seats for sporting events.