Supporting his team is what Evan’s all about.
Tell us about your role and what a typical day looks like.
In addition to general planning, my role is to be an AoE productivity buff for my party. Whatever is difficult, annoying, or preventing good work from happening, I cast a spell to disappear it.
Daily that means running meetings, doing Slack ‘whack-a-mole’ on questions, and generally being an information sponge ready to go Mr. Clean on confusion.
What’s one of your proudest accomplishments at the studio so far?
I’m proud of growing the combat team into a highly collaborative cross-discipline fighting force! We are well poised to take on the challenge of Wonder Woman’s iconic power and set the bar for superhero combat!
What do you love most about the Production team?
I love the production team because we are a scrappy bunch that figure out how to make the game go without enforcing a restrictive one-size-fits-all production philosophy. Every team works differently, and we respect that by supporting each other with all our special needs to get the best from everyone.
What three words best describe the Production team?
Fearsome Momma Bears
Describe your team as a User Story.
As a team, we want as many KPIs to measure our sprint acceptance criteria velocity so that our roadmaps and scope are aligned with project goals and values because intuitive gameplay depends on detailed synchronous development patterns in an open collaborative environment.
[Yes, he’s joking. – Ed.]
What’s the most important trait someone can have as a teammate?
Compassion. The willingness to assume the best intent of your colleagues and to forgive them when they are not able to help or preventing you from moving forward. The same goes for yourself! Pursuing high quality doesn’t mean burn out. Just like IRL we have to take care of ourselves to feel 90+.
What team always has your back?
Engineering. They are the unsung heroes. We have lots of tools to do a lot of cool things, but inevitably the next cool thing requires Engineering and they smoke it every time. They make it look easy. The challenge is never can an ENG figure it out, it’s can a designer sufficiently describe what they need!
What advice would you give someone looking to pursue a career in your field?
I recommend the route I took which was through QA. Get an entry level Publisher QA position and cut your teeth on the basics of bugs and ship cycles.
Then look for a Dev studio QA position. Once in the studio, learn the ropes, then pay attention to a part of the game that fascinates you and learn who produces it. Learn what they care about and be of service.
Why did you decide to work at Monolith?
I grew up thinking that Monolith games were the most unique, creative, and fun out there. (NOLF, F.E.A.R, Condemned) I fantasized that it must be the quintessential “fun game studio” to work at. Turns out it’s all real and true!
What do you see as a core value of our studio?
Quality Fun.
What’s one of your favorite things about working at Monolith?
I pinch myself every time we do one of the ExtraLife Game Days. We just had one and it was amazing. Last year was so weird; it was all remote. But this year, I was able to be the Team Captain and we got to be together for the first time since quarantine, we were in a new part of the studio and stayed all night and it was magical.
What’s a hopeful trend you see happening in the games industry?
I love that we are finally seeing protagonists and main characters that have mental illness or alternative backgrounds compared to classical heroes. As someone who’s bipolar, I don’t want the game industry to become my therapist. But like with film/TV, I want games that challenge me intellectually and emotionally.
What are you excited about with Monolith’s next game?
Working on the Wonder Woman game means doing justice to her debut as the main character. For me that means not just delivering on her physical power, but her heart as well.
What was one of your fondest moments from quarantine last year?
Having entire weekends with nowhere to go and nothing to do.
If you weren’t in Game Dev, what else would you be doing?
I studied musical theatre in high school and college so I could have kept pursuing that. My colleagues will attest that I still tap dance during Zoom meetings.
Thank you, Evan!
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