Jake Finlayson
Game Dev//Music Producer//Marketing//Creative
About
For all my life I’ve been creating. When I was 5 I wrote my first book. I made my first board game when I was just 8, started programming and music production at 13. All throughout this time I was trying everything and anything creative. Painting, film making, stop motion animation… until I found game development.The way I look at games is the culmination of all media forms. We started with writing, where you would imagine the world. Next was film, where we could visualize the world. Now, we’re at games; you change the world around you. This is why I fell so in love with game design and game development. It’s the most creative medium you can work in.As a result, I’ve been making games consistently for 5+ years. I’ve completed a Bachelor of Software Engineering at Media Design School, majoring in Game Programming, and a Diploma in Creative Marketing at Yoobee. Now in my life, I’m eager to continue this journey working in the industry and further developing my skills.From Jake :D
Skills
Marketing/
Graphic Design
Stakeholder Communication
Graphic Design
Product Mockups
Social Media Marketing
Adobe Suite
Web Development
Album Artwork
Game Dev
Unity
Networking & Multiplayer
Mobile Development
Console Development
AR/XR Experiences
AI Systems
Gameplay Systems
Frontend & Backend
Steam Publishing
Optimization & Testing
Game Design
Music
FL Studio
Mixing and Mastering
Technical Audio Developer
FMOD
Misc
Agile Development Process
Project Management Tools
Trello
Milanote
Contact
Me stuff
Fav Movies
Little Mermaid (1989)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
The Truman Show (1998)
Hereditary (2018)
Fav Games
Minecraft
Vampire Survivors
Hogwarts Legacy
DDLC
Catan
Fav Art
Games Portfolio
CHUTNEY: SPACE SURVIVOR
Ridden
cdROM.480p.hd_freeDownload
These Hallowed Shores
litl lotl
Traffic trails
Rattic
Music Portfolio
3mourn Beats
ethereal melancholy
Space, No
CHUTNEY OST
Some things are unable to be uploaded to streaming platforms due to sample clearance, please consider going to my SoundCloud for more
Design Portfolio
makerspace
ipsom
redesign series
Chutney: Space survivors
CHUTNEY: Space Survivor is a third person, hoard-shooting deck builder where you play as Chutney, shooting down hordes of enemies with his Omni-gun. Alter your attacks by collecting different cartridges and create unique synergies!
responsible for:
AI Behavior
Random Level Generation
Meta Progression System
Optimization and Testing
Music and Technical Audio Design
Gameplay systems (weapons, destructibles, etc)
Game Design
gallery
Play Now
Ridden
RIDDEN is a 2D side-scrolling space shooter controlled entirely by the mouse. Play as an armed maintenance drone aboard a spaceship overrun by aliens. Collect organic matter to analyse, upgrade your on-board systems, and fight through alien bosses as you strive to complete your final directives.
responsible for:
AI Behaviors
Character Movement
Branching Progression System
Modular Music System
Level and Game Design
gallery
play now
cdROM.480p.hd_freeDownload
Play as an e-mail scammer working during the late-'90s. Use the power of deduction, choose the template, and choose the words to create the perfect e-mail based on your victim's personality.
responsible for:
Technical Narrative Design
Research & Narrative
Dynamic Scoring System
Optimization and Testing
Game Design
Let's Play
Play Now
These Hallowed Shores
NOTE: This is an unreleased demo
These Hallowed Shores is a top-down RTS colony-building simulator with a goal to reach the enemies base. Move your units around, specialize them with roles and build up your empire.
responsible for:
AI Systems
Resource Gathering System
Level Design
SFX & Music Production
Game Design
Litl Lotl
Play as an adorable axolotl and play through 3 levels filled with vibrant art, puzzles and more!Play through the game using your unique skillset of detaching your body parts and flinging them wherever you desire, be careful though, doing so has a cost. Explore. Solve puzzles. And maybe commit some genocide!
responsible for:
Character Abilities
Puzzle Design
Level Design
SFX & Music Production
Game Design
Traffic Trails
Traffic Trails is a hyper-casual, button-bashing, role-reversal game of "Crossy Road" created during the GMTK Game Jam 2023 over 48 hours.
responsible for:
Upgrade System
Gameplay
Other Backend Systems
Game Design
Highscore System
gallery
play now
Rattic
NOTE: Unreleased
The Rattic is a 2D puzzle adventure game with branching narrative, where the player must trade with rat caricatures in the hopes of gaining cheese for their family.
responsible for:
Narrative
Technical Narrative Implementation
Minigames
Level Design
SFX & Music Production
Game Design
3mourn Beats
E-commerce platform for selling instrumentals I made for artists.
responsible for:
Music Production
Mixing & Mastering
Social Media Marketing
Online E-commerce
Video Editing
Ethereal Melancholy
My debut album release. Focusing on ethereal trap beats taking inspiration from a variety of new Hip-Hop production
responsible for:
Music Production
Social Media Marketing
Space, no
Cowboy Bebop inspired x Traprun wave EP. Made during a lot of change and uncertainty in my life.
responsible for:
Music Production
Social Media Marketing
Chutney Ost
The OST for CHUTNEY: Space Survivors. Incorporating a variety of genres including electroswing, disco, jazz and more. These take form as radio stations in the game, which are accessible through achievement unlocks.
responsible for:
Music Production
Technical Audio Implementation
Makerspace
As an assignment for Yoobee I was tasked with creating marketing collateral for a local council project. In Auckland our libraries actively have a program running promoting the exploration of creative technology such as Game Dev, Music Production, Robotics and 3d Printers called "Makerspace". The target demographic I chose to market to was 14+ teens to young adults. The three marketing collateral I iterated on were posters, Instagram posts and an arcade machine with a game.
Poster
Instagram post
Game
To view the full report, please go to the below link
Ipsom
A quick exercise in creating a "lifelike" menu for a vegan restaurant I made up. I especially had fun inventing fun cocktails :D
Redesign Series
Passion Project redesigning posters & album artworks for some of my favorite bodies of art. Most in a modernized y2k aesthetic.