My name is Martin Bakardzhiev and I'm a content game designer with a background in 2d/3d art and architecture. I've been a crucial part of smaller and bigger projects, which have put me in various work environments - from smaller teams with tight budgets to bigger teams with complicated pipelines.
My background in art has often positioned me as a generalist and lets me bring cross-disciplinary work to the creative process.
Scroll down to check some of the projects I've worked on:
Jagged Alliance 3 (2023)
genre: turn-based tactical rpg
platform: Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
steam score: 89% (Very Positive)
created with: Custom Engine
status: released
developed by: Haemimont Games
summary: turn-based tactics meet choice driven rpg exploration
key responsibilities:
- designed and scripted 3 big and 7 small levels and all associated quests and characters
- wrote 4 big and 6 small characters and scripted all the interactions with them
- provided direction for the VO recordings of all 130+ characters (220000+ words)
- defined the behavior of the combat camera movement and transitions
Stranded: Alien Dawn (2023)
genre: survival colony sim
platform: Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
steam score: 85% (Very Positive)
created with: Custom Engine
status: released
developed by: Haemimont Games
summary: Rimworld in 3D with Sims elements
key responsibilites:
- wrote content for characters, events and descriptions
- playtested and provided lots of feedback
- UX of the mod support menu and editor
Space Patrol: Co-op Adventure (2020)
genre: multiplayer co-op action game
platform: iOS, Android
created with: Unity 3D
status: released
developed by: Kvaba Interactive
what I did: game design lead, level design, narrative, UI/UX
summary: two players must cooperate in order to control a single spaceship
what's interesting about it:
- innovative decision making in order to fit the game in its tight budget
- making custom physics so it can run the game smoothly on multiple devices
- creating our own engine and scripting system inside Unity's visual environment
- complementary co-op gameplay teaching the player coordination and leadership skills
Sammy In The Shadows (2021)
genre: cinematic platformer
platform: Nintendo Switch, Windows
created with: Unity 3D
status: in development
developed by: Kvaba Interactive
what I did: game design, level design, puzzle design, art direction
summary: Sammy must use his flashlight to light his way through puzzles and enemies
what's interesting about it:
- clever use of atmosphere and sound for speechless storytelling
- minimal and intuitive gameplay without hand holding
- the dual nature of enemies (obstacle+helper) gives space for fun and diverse puzzles
- the flashlight as a multitool instead of big inventory or skill tree
Inspector Hector (2018)
genre: point and click adventure
platform: web
created with: pure Javascript
status: released
developed by: personal project
what I did: puzzle design, art, narrative, vox
summary: you must solve a murder by gathering clues and interrogating the suspects
what's interesting about it:
- inspector's journal act as a tool for cross-referencing contradicting statements
- suspects change their facial expression and can sometimes give you false clues
- instead of items you gather clues in your inventory which you can use for dialogue options
- 2d first person view proved to be a solid art direction for web experience
Who Shot The Sheriff (2019)
genre: social deduction card game
platform: analogue + application
created with: pen and paper
status: finished (kickstarter coming soon)
developed by: DICEWIDEOPEN
what I did: game design, creative direction, producing
summary: every person has a secret identity but some of them are killers on the loose
what's interesting about it:
- 18 different characters with unique skill promise completely different playthrough each time
- despite its Werewolf roots, the game offers lots of unique stuff (neutrals, duels, elections etc.)
- over 200 times tested with different people in order to balance all the characters
- the addition of an app makes up for the cases lacking an experienced game master
Small, unfinished or obscure (but close to my ♥) projects
Escape From Planet Earth (live-action game for team building)
Short Circuit (puzzle game)
Mistreat Fighter (tactical combat in the veins of Monkey Island's swordfighting)
The Cuckoo's Nest (FMV bar simulator with rpg elements)
Rolling Wild (bumping cars... but they are actually balloons)
Crawler (dungeon crawler + Voight Kampff empathy test simulator)
Crocodile (pen'n'paper game with d&d combat elements)
KROKODИL (audio based surveillance game)
Major Tom (point'n'click adventure)
2022: A Midspace Journey (reverse-horror colony sim)