Hi!

I’m Adam Thompson ~

Emotion Theory is my creative space. I value beautiful, meaningful, playful creations and like to explore such qualities in my work.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand.

List of works

Game Development

Interactive

  • BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (in development)
    An interactive parable on self-love based on the classic story.
    Steam

  • SEED OF LIFE (in development)

    A relaxing puzzle game in which you create beautiful and enlightening spirographic patterns.

    Steam

  • SATORI (2021)

    A liberating and meditative free-running zen-space that changes every time you play.

    Steam

Job history

  • UI Builder / UX designer (Synty Studios, 2022-2024)
    Leading provider in game development assets.

    • INTERFACE Series

    • Unannounced Project

    • User Interface Tutorials - YouTube

    • Internal prototypes

    • Internal tools

  • Remotely (RemotelyHQ, 2021-2022)

    Immersive team-building activities for remote workers.

    • Gnomes and Moles

    • Quiz Royale

  • SkillsVR (SkillsVR, 2019-2020)
    A series of VR games focused on training, assessing, and informing users about various real-world jobs.

    • Earthmoving

    • Traffic control

    • Prefabrication

    • Hazard Management

  • TradeMe Assessment Games (Joy Business Academy, 2019)
    A series of mini-games centered on testing a user’s aptitude around specific job-related skills.

  • Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption (Transolar Games, 2018)
    A humorous fantasy role-playing adventure game by Lori and Corey Cole, creators of the acclaimed Quest for Glory series.
    Steam | GoG | itch

  • The Aetherlight (Scarlet City Studios, 2016)
    An online adventure role-playing game based on the story of the Bible set in a steampunk land called Aethasia.

  • Smallworlds (Outsmart, 2007)
    A browser-based online virtual world that ran from 2007-2018.

    • Dr. Halloween (2011)
      An Easter questline centered on solving puzzles to foil the plot of the evil Dr Halloween.

    • Jetski: A Day in the Life (2012)
      An open-ended questline where players explore the vast seas on a jetski and interact with a number of curious citizens across the many isles.

    • The Puzzleworth Mystery: Part I (2012)
      A story-driven puzzle-centric questline where players are introduced to the curiously mysterious Mister Puzzleworth.

    • The Puzzleworth Mystery: Part II (2012)
      A continuation that further unravels the mystery behind the curious Mister Puzzleworth and his unknown origins.

Other projects

  • Workplace Sim (2016)

    An educational point-and-click role-playing game that aims to teach users of various industry workplaces about health and safety practices and theory.

  • Medical Game (2015)

    An interactive educational game that aims to teach medical students about diagnosing patients based on their symptoms.

Lectures

VIDEOGAME CASE STUDIES

  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

  • The Witness

  • Lara Croft: GO

  • Resident Evil

  • Dark Souls

  • World Design details

GAME DESIGN

  • The 3 C’s: Character, Camera, Controller

  • Camera Design

  • Limitations

  • Theme, Narrative, and World Design

  • Game Mechanics

  • Level Design

  • Game Experience / Game Feel

  • What makes a good RPG Town?

TECHNICAL

  • Introduction to Game development using Unity

  • User Interfaces using Unity

  • Unity Asset Store Marketplace publishing

THEORY

  • Violence in videogames

  • Videogames as a medium

  • The rise of independent videogames

  • Mindfulness & Productivity for Game Developers

  • Production Pipelines

Talks

  • How to be a healthier, happier, more productive game developer (2022)

  • Flow: Liberating, Meditative Motion (2018)

  • Extending the Editor: Becoming a one-man indie team (2016)

  • On Authorship & Being Effective (2015)

  • Make Art, Not Games (2015)

  • Decorus Carcer: an Interactive Story (2013)

Spotlights