Where Magic Meets Data
At its core, RDS Game is about making data science teachable through play. Players journey through realms built on four pillars — Privacy, Transparency, Fairness, and Veracity — solving puzzles, narrative choices, and minigames that bring these abstract ideas to life.
The project restaretd in January 2025 after the first alpha was scrapped, with no clear roadmap or direction. I joined as an intern, exploring if these concepts could be taught through an egaging fantasy adventure.
Over two years, I grew into a produce-level role, scaling the team, setting art direction, and leading the delivery of a polished demo that proved the game wasn't just possible, it was fun, immersive, and worth showing on bigger stages like WonderCon 2026.
Key Moments in the Journey
An Idea Made Real
When I joined as an intern, the project had no roadmap. I produced over 200 lo-fi wireframes and parallel storylines to explore how mechanics puzzles, and narrative could work together. These early deliverables gave the project its first tangible direction, convinced leadership it was worth pursuing, and secured interest from play-testers and even investors.
When the Work Outgrows the Team
As we moved into production, our original team of 5 wasn't enough to meet milestone needs. With pipelines in place, the bottleneck became capacity. I stepped into a lead role, growing the team to 12 and broadening its makeup to include not just designers, artists, and developers, but also creative writers, play-testers, and QA testers. This expansion gave us the coverage we needed to deliver on schedule without sacrificing quality.
Redrawing the World
Early builds suffered from mismatched styles and unclear readability, which hurt player immersion. I directed an art overhaul, creating enforceable style guidelines that unified environments, characters, and UI. The team updated 50+ assets and created 50 new ones in 3 months; this increased asset production speed by 300%. In play-tests, players reported feeling more immersed, validating that visuals were now serving gameplay.
A Demo in Two Months
The July 2025 Summer Mixer gave us just 8 weeks to deliver a vertical slice. I prioritized the tutorial and fairness levels, sections of the game showcasing features that best demonstrated the core fantasy. By running parallel workflows and scoping tightly, we shipped a polished build on time. The demo engaged 100+ live attendees, generating enthusiasm from the community and giving the company confidence to present at WonderCon 2026.
Impact & Outcomes
By the midpoint of this ongoing journey, the RDS Game had grown from an unformed idea into a showcase-ready product.
Transformed an unformed idea into a tangible product direction with 200+ lo-fi wireframes and prototypes that created the first roadmap and proved the concept was worth pursuing.
Scaled the team from 5 -> 12 by introducing efficient pipelines and expanding capacity across design, art, development, creative writing, playtesting, and QA.
Directed an art overhaul that improved asset delivery speed by 300%, and in play-test, successfully immersed players in the game's world.
Delivered a polished demo in 2 months, showcased to 100+ live attendees, generating community enthusiasm and positioning the game for external opportunities like WonderCon 2026.
Project Reflection
This project continues to teach me what it takes to grow an idea into something real. I've learned how to give form to abstract concepts, how to build systems and teams that scale, and how to balance vision with deadlines. I've seen firsthand how much clarity and immersion matter, not just to make a game look good, but to make it believable, playable, and worth investing in.
Most importantly, I proved that I could take something fragile, uncertain, and undefined, and guide it toward becoming a product that excites players, engages communities, and earns its place on public stages. And the journey isn't over. I'm still actively developing the RDS Game, carrying these lessons forward as we move through closed beta testing and beyond.
