Joshua I. Wilson (Jay)
Game Designer & Developer

With over six years of game design and development experience, I specialize in crafting engaging, player-focused experiences across solo projects, freelance collaborations, and studio roles at SMG Studio and Strange Scaffold. My work spans PC, console, and mobile platforms, with contributions to projects like LEGO Party!, RISK: Global Domination, Moving Out 2, and more.Using Unity and C#, I’ve designed and implemented gameplay mechanics, built intuitive levels, and collaborated across disciplines to bring ideas to life. I love to innovate, create joyful experiences, and always bring a fresh perspective and adaptable mindset to every team.

Level Designer / UI Developer / Brick Asset Pipeline Clean-up

Lead Map Designer

LEVEL DESIGNER

LEVEL DESIGNER

LEAD TECHNICAL DESIGNER

FOUNDER & GAME DEVELOPER

LEGO® Party!

  • Platform(s): Steam, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch

  • Engine: Unity

  • Role: Level Designer / UI Developer / Brick Asset Pipeline Clean-up

  • Duration: ~2 years

  • Website: LEGO® Party! Official Site

For LEGO® Party!, I was primarily responsible for reviewing the core mechanics and overall feel, designing level variants for a wide range of mini-games, and prototyping additional gameplay features.

Due to legal reasons, I can't share development build screenshots of the mini-games I've worked on until the game releases on September 30th, 2025. However, I'll name them and note which ones are viewable within the trailers.

  • Aim To Please

  • Animal Census

  • Donuts and Dragons (Reveal Trailer, 0:38–0:39)

  • Drill and Chill

  • Flouncing Fishies

  • NINJAGO® Training

  • Perilous Pathways (Reveal Trailer, 0:35–0:36)

  • Rally Tally

  • Slide Hustle

  • Snailed It

  • Stop, Drop, and Side Scroll

As the design pipeline became more stable and manageable for the rest of the team, I shifted my focus to support other departments. I picked up Blender and Brick Link Studio 2.0 to assist the Brick Asset Pipeline (BAP) team, contributing to polygon reduction, object culling, and proper parenting and hierarchy setup for 3D models. I also helped maintain our part catalog to ensure compliance with LEGO-approved assets.Unfortunately, I am unable to get photos of the 3D models I cleaned up and imported, but I'll describe them:

  • Some environmental pieces in the 'Museum Mayhem' mini-game.

  • Some environmental pieces in the 'Perilous Pathways' mini-game.

  • Some environmental pieces in the 'Perfect Pillars' mini-game.

  • Some environmental pieces in the Pirates and LEGO® NINJAGO® challenge zone.

  • Never Realm in the LEGO® NINJAGO® challenge zone.

  • Garmadon's Fortress in the LEGO® NINJAGO® challenge zone.

  • Shintaro in the LEGO® NINJAGO® challenge zone.

  • Dungeons of Shintaro in the LEGO® NINJAGO® challenge zone.

Toward the end of development, I transitioned into UI implementation. My work included creating toast notifications for online and lobby status, designing wardrobe item alerts with integrated SFX, animating loading screen doors and implementing randomized tip displays, and setting up mode select screens with in/out transitions. I also handled dialogue box animation, map icon reminder animations, and text layout for the challenge zone UI.Additional responsibilities included importing glyphs for text boxes, designing the score chaser screen layout, and integrating images and
localized text for the help screen. One of the more technical tasks involved importing and implementing the correct controller visuals that minifigures hold during PIP screens, dynamically based on the console each player is using.This role allowed me to flex both my technical and creative skills to support a polished and cohesive player experience.

RISK: Global Domination

For RISK: Global Domination, I was primarily responsible for sketching and designing maps for DLCs, iterating on designs using feedback from playtesting, and collaborating with partners to bring their IP into the game and represent it as best as possible.