About Me

February 18, 2021 zack

My name is Zack Hiwiller. I’m a game designer, producer, educator, and writer living in Orlando, FL.

Digital Games

I’ve been a game designer and producer since 2004. I’ve worked for Electronic Arts, Gameloft, and by contract for number of independent studios and organizations.

My incomplete CV includes:

  • Sudoku Together (Mobile)
  • FortuneIt! (Mobile)
  • Fire & Dice (Mobile)
  • Warplanes (iPad)
  • War in the Pacific (iPad)
  • NCAA Football 08 (PS2, XBX)
  • Madden NFL 08 (X360)
  • Superman Returns: Fortress of Solitude (GBA)
  • Superman Returns (NDS)
  • NFL Street 2 (PS2/XBX/GCN)
  • Various other projects including literally hundreds of student projects.

Analog Games

I successfully funded The Deck of Many Games, a game design prototyping tool on Kickstarter in 2018.

I’m also the credited designer on Magic Money (2020).

In 2021, I will be Kickstarting Scribbletown through my company Desultory.

Writing and Industry

I’m the author of Players Making Decisions from New Riders, a game design textbook which has been very successful. My second book, The Game Design Playlist, is out from Addison-Wesley.

I’ve also contributed to the anthology 100 Principles of Game Design and have been published on Kotaku, GameSetWatch and in Hacker Quarterly.

I’ve spoken at the East Coast Games Conference, Orlando iX, Indienomicon, and IGDA Orlando. I’ve been an Independent Games Festival judge since 2014 and am a proud Project Horseshoe facilitator.

Leadership

I have been department chair of the Game Design bachelor’s program at Full Sail University since 2011. We have grown from a single cohort of four students to the largest program of its kind in the world, with nearly 3,000 students at any given time.

I lead a group of designers, developers, and other professionals in creating and implementing rapidly changing curricula, policy, and workflows to adapt to a wider variety of topics and disciplines.

I also teach from time to time with a wide variety of topics, such as: systems design, analytics, presentation design, pitching and public speaking, basic game design documentation, psychology of design, philosophy of decision making, probability for game design, and others.

Miscellany

I have been a football official at the high school level since 2008. I usually work the head linesman or line judge positions. I have been Rank 1 (the highest ranking) since 2016. In 2016, I worked the Florida 8A State Semifinal game which was attended by over 7,000 people. In 2018, I worked the Florida 7A State Championship at Camping World Stadium.