Ashley Rezvani

I worked on Yokai Moon from start to finish, completing a full development cycle: ideation & concept → pre-production → development → playtesting → polish → release → maintenance & bug fixing.

My tasks included design documentation, implementation of features, playtesting, and quality assurance.

Game Design

Combat Design

I was responsible for aiding in the design of the game’s turn-based combat system. I determined the attack, magic, and initiative stats for villagers and enemies. I was also responsible for honing the game’s element effectiveness system, similar to Pokemon.

My design goal for the combat system (and what guided my balancing process) was to make players feel empowered & strong. I wanted to make the randomness feel exciting rather than punishing, so I opted against true random. For example, the enemies would never critically hit twice in a row. Similarly, if a villager was at 1HP, the enemy’s chance of hitting for zero was upped to 50-75% depending on the enemy, to make the player feel excited and like it was a close call.

ECONOMY DESIGN

I designed and balanced the amount of gold each enemy would drop. I also determined the cost of each item in the shop:

My approach to balancing the economy was based on the principle that high risk/effort should yield high rewards. In addition, I specifically designed the economy system so that unless specifically trying to, it was impossible for a player to purchase all items in a single playthrough. This decision was meant to improve the game’s replayability and force the player to think strategically about using gold as a resource.

Level Design

I emphasized pacing gameplay and narrative elements in my approach to Yokai Moon’s level design. This manifested in the intensity of combat each night, the arrival of new villagers, and acquisition of quests and items. I view level design as the art of contrasts; this means that if there was a “low action” day and night then it would be followed with a “high action” day and night.

Intensity here describes the challenge and effort on behalf of the player, in addition to the emotional impact on them. I like to think about intensity ramping as I design levels, and use a roller coaster method to add variety and encourage flow.

Audio

I composed original music for the game, in addition to doing the sound design. My primary goal for the game’s audio was to support the game design and narrative. I wanted an interactive audio experience for players, reflecting their experience and responding to their choices.