Heart's Flight

Heidi McDonald

If I have a story to tell, let it be a love story.

Writer and Instructor

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Game Credits

iThrive Games, 2015-2018

Creative Director | Companions, Filament Games | PC

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

Creative Director | Cycles of Empathy, First Playable | PC

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

Creative Director | The Sculptor’s Journey, Carnegie Mellon ETC | Board Game

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

Creative Director | (Untitled Empathy Game), Carnegie Mellon ETC | PC

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

Creative Director | (Untitled Curiosity Game). Carnegie Mellon ETC | PC

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

Creative Director | Quilko’s Song, DePaul University | PC

  • Determined the goals and risks involved with the project
  • Met regularly with the development team to assess progress, offer suggestions, and ask questions to keep the project on track
  • Act as a liaison between the development studio and the iThrive team
  • Report regularly to the iThrive team about the project

 

Schell Games, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011- 2015

Writer | Happy Atoms | iOS

  • Researched and wrote over 300 “fun facts” about atomic compounds.

Writer | Orion Trail | PC and Orion Trail VR

  • Wrote 25 skill checks, 9 player encounters, and 4 away missions.

Composer | GumTrix | iOS

  • Composed the final menu music.
  • Produced prototype music and adjusted to lead’s feedback.

Writer / Game Designer | The World of Lexica (both Unbound and Seeker)| iOS

  • Designed and implemented the Book Oracle and Story Cards features.
  • Point person on the Book Item integration system for the 521 books in the game.
  • Inserted interactive bookshelves, avatar augmentations, and collectable Inspiration objects into levels using Unity 3d.
  • Wrote and implemented quests and over 7,800 lines of character dialogue.
  • Completed in-depth book research for the content team with which to base the game more solidly on actual literature.
  • Created two content modules including story, level design and world building: “A Garden Affaire,” a playable romance story parodying Jane Austen, and “Mutiny on the HMS Rapscallion,” a pirate adventure module in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Designer | STEM Game | iOS (Unreleased)

  • Conducted fast prototyping for mini-games: four complete mini-games in one month.
  • Wrote the backstory for the world and its characters.
  • Composed musical prototypes for the game music, both main game and mini-games.

Lionel Battle Train | Narrative Designer | iOS

  • Designed the game locations, the characters, and the story.
  • Wrote the character and tutorial dialogue; named and described the weaponry; designed the achievements system.
  • Planned and carried out playtests, and generated related reports.
  • Completed in-depth research about monetization methods.

Writer |Tunnel Tail | Android, iOS

  • Wrote the combat dialogue.

Narrative Designer / Assistant Sound Designer | PlayForward: Elm City Stories | iOS

  • Wrote character dialogue and descriptive text for 12 levels, tutorial text, and mini-game text for 4 mini-games.
  • Designed the game locations, the characters, and the story.
  • Conducted voice casting, voice recording and editing of all voiceover files.

Designer / Composer / Assistant Engineer | QWOP-style Dating Sim | PC (Proof of Concept)

  • Coded the following in C#: state machines, dialogue, music player, string randomizers.
  • Created the mathematical associations between emotions and positions on a facial rigger.
  • Composed four original pieces of music.

Designer / Narrative Designer | Principal Measures | (Paper Prototype, Unreleased)

  • Co-created a prototype to see whether the emotional mechanics from Papers, Please could be successfully re-created as a game about being the principal of a troubled inner-city high school.
  • Wrote all text content for the prototype.

 

Deathbow Productions LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011-Present

Designer | Reaction | Card Game

  • Designed the gameplay based on Global Game Jam theme.
  • Wrote content for the cards.

Writer | Trans Against Insanity | Card Game

  • Co-wrote a specialized Cards Against Humanity deck for transgender developers to use during their panels in the Diversity Tents at PAX East and PAX Prime.
  • Event Designer / Narrative Designer | The GDC Wedding | Gamified Nuptials at GDC 2014
  • Used design concepts learned from favorite designers to gamify the event in various ways.
  • Wrote a specialized Cards Against Humanity deck to give to guests as event favors.

Designer / Composer | Quick or Dead | Wii

  • Co-designed the gameplay based on Global Game Jam theme.
  • Composed all game music.

Writing Consultant | Queen At Arms | Web

  • Evaluated narrative design and game dialogue.
  • Offered detailed notes for how the writing team might improve the product.

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