Joining Lumate gave me the opportunity to take ownership of an original IP and help shape both its evolution and the team building it. As Creative Director, I designed gameplay systems, progression, UX, economies, and creative direction while onboarding and leading a small multidisciplinary team that included engineers, artists, audio specialists, and illustrators.

Memory Matches Circus

Memory Matches Circus was inspired by the curated progression found in games like Candy Crush, and my design challenge was finding ways to evolve a traditional memory game across a 100-level campaign without losing its simplicity.

I built a progression system that continually introduced new board layouts, card types, decks, mechanics, and powerups, giving players new challenges to master throughout the campaign. Rather than relying on difficulty alone, the goal was to keep introducing fresh situations that encouraged players to rethink familiar mechanics.

One design decision I’m especially proud of was making powerups part of the level design instead of consumable resources. Rather than restricting powerful abilities behind purchases, each powerup became another design tool I could use to create memorable levels, teach new mechanics, and shape the pacing of the overall experience.

I assembled and led a six-person development team consisting of two software engineers, a UI artist, an illustrator, a composer, and a sound engineer, guiding the project from concept through release.

The game has remained available on the App Store for more than a decade, though it unfortunately still suffers from several critical bugs. Despite those shortcomings, player reviews remained overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing my belief that a thoughtfully designed core experience can overcome imperfections elsewhere in the product.

Expanding the Formula

Memory Matches became a flexible framework that allowed us to explore very different player experiences beyond the core game.

Memory Matches Friends

Memory Matches Friends reimagined the game as an asynchronous multiplayer experience. Players competed across five timed rounds, each solving the same board independently. Because both players competed on the same board, success came from recognizing patterns and finding increasingly efficient solutions rather than reacting to randomness.

I designed the game’s economy around collectible themes that players could permanently unlock or temporarily rent with in-game currency. Because the starting player selected the theme for each round, expanding your collection and mastering new themes became a strategic advantage while naturally exposing both players to new content.

Memory Matches Spanish Tutor

Memory Matches Spanish Tutor explored how the framework could support language learning. Rather than simply attaching educational content to a game, I wanted progression to reinforce learning habits.

One of my favorite features was a visual mastery system built around gold stars. Players earned stars by demonstrating proficiency in each lesson, but over time those stars gradually peeled away and eventually fell off, providing an intuitive reminder to revisit material before forgetting it. The system gave players a quick visual snapshot of both their overall progress and where they would benefit most from review, turning spaced repetition into something they could understand at a glance.

Across the Memory Matches franchise, I explored how a single core mechanic could support very different player experiences—from handcrafted progression and asynchronous competition to educational learning—without losing the simplicity that made the original game approachable.