MeTycoon: Career Exploration Game for Young Teenagers
Led the development of MeTycoon, an innovative online social game designed to encourage teenagers to proactively explore career opportunities. This whole life simulator combined real-world job insights with engaging gameplay mechanics, allowing players to make life choices and explore various career paths in a virtual environment.
Key Responsibilities and Achievements:
- Served as principal game designer and product manager, leading the vision and development of the game
- Collaborated with subject matter experts, school children, and various stakeholders to define and refine game content and design
- Managed the development process, including setting and managing the roadmap and backlog
- Created a comprehensive life simulation that included childhood development, education choices, career paths, and lifestyle decisions
- Integrated real-world job insights through embedded videos and skill-based challenges
- Achieved over one million players, highlighting the game’s wide reach and appeal
- Secured a finalist place at the IITSEC game awards, competing alongside projects from organizations like NASA
- Demonstrated significant impact, with 92% of players discovering new potential careers through the game
Technical and Design Highlights:
- Developed a complex game economy balancing skills, activities, relationships, and money to determine player happiness
- Created an engaging social component allowing players to visit and compete with each other’s virtual worlds
- Implemented a system of skill developers and qualifications tied to job opportunities, encouraging players to strategically plan their career paths
Relevance:
Showcased ability to lead the development of engaging, educational gaming experiences with real-world impact
- Demonstrated expertise in managing complex projects involving diverse stakeholders, from subject matter experts to end-users
- Proven track record in creating products that effectively blend entertainment with education
- Experience in developing games with significant social components and large user bases
- Successfully translated complex real-world systems (career paths, life choices) into accessible and enjoyable game mechanics
The main gameplay area. Players support the costs of running a household by finding employment, using qualifications and skill development.
Players visit each other’s worlds and compete on their success and happiness.
Videos embedded within the game give detailed information on a range of professions. By viewing these videos, players unlock skill developers that can in turn be used to apply for better jobs.
MeTycoon went on to have well over a million players, secured a finalist place at IITSEC game awards where NASA won, and had studies published on it, highlighting that 92% of players discovered new careers they could pursue.