SERVICE SUMMARY
BOOTCAMP:
CUSTOM VARIANT
This bootcamp trains the team in all Marie’s popular talks, theories and methodologies on game vision. The team and Marie then uses the knowledge together to establish a creative framework with a rich, synergistic feature set that binds the gameplay together into an iconic, rich, stimulating and fun player experience. The bootcamp starts by looking at the game from the very top – the game pillars. It unites them, finds synergies and fleshes them out into commandments. This establishes a strong, deliberate creative framework. The team then gets to bounce all their feature ideas against it to see what fits & sticks. Features are ranked on how well they align with the vision, and their backlog priority changes accordingly. In the end, the team and Marie then identify cuts and ‘holes’ in the current design and work to re-shape the feature set to compliment the newly sharpened game vision.
SAMPLE LAYOUT
The standard schedule for the Design Jam is outlined below.
The team can be divided in groups or stay as one. Marie’s recommendation is groups of 3 people.
It is possible to provide creative direction and boundaries to the jam, that the participants will then adhere to and stay within. Either way, at the end of day 2, they will have solid game pitches ready for presentation.
Day 1 Schedule
GAME BRIEFING
PLAYTEST
DISCUSSION
LUNCH
ANALYSIS
PRESENTATION
Day 2 Schedule
RELEVANT TALK
DISCUSSION
TEAM EXERCISE
LUNCH
SPECIFIC PLAYTHROUGH
SYSTEM & FEATURE REVIEWS
Day 3 Schedule
SYSTEM & FEATURE REVIEWS
WORKSHOP ON NEEDED TOPIC
LUNCH
RELEVANT TALK
DISCUSSION
PRESENTATION
TESTIMONIALS
"Great experience"
"It was a great experience having Marie over for a game design bootcamp. She took the team through several creative exercises that challenged the status quo of our game vision and triggered interesting thoughts. She showed great flexibility by jumping into any topic we needed and even did several of her talks at our request. We really appreciated and respected how she could help us on so many fronts.
The biggest help for us was definitely her extensive AI knowledge, where she shared her best practices from past AAA games she worked on. She went into several advanced topics. It was especially great to hear her thought process when creating the behaviors of enemies, and how she user tier lists when designing enemies. Her hands-on combat experience was very valuable to us, and we learned a lot from her.
After a week of bootcamp, our team is now well set to tackle our coming milestones, but her expertise could really be helpful again in the future. “
The biggest help for us was definitely her extensive AI knowledge, where she shared her best practices from past AAA games she worked on. She went into several advanced topics. It was especially great to hear her thought process when creating the behaviors of enemies, and how she user tier lists when designing enemies. Her hands-on combat experience was very valuable to us, and we learned a lot from her.
After a week of bootcamp, our team is now well set to tackle our coming milestones, but her expertise could really be helpful again in the future. “
Game team
Supercell
"Creativity was booming"
"We got Marie over for her two-day workshop in game design, where the participants got to come up with game ideas, refine them and present them at different stages. They learnt a great deal, both about how to properly design games, but also about teamwork and how to align on ideas. Creativity was booming, at the same time as they had a clear guiding structure on how to keep refining and expand on their concepts. Her curriculum was set up in a great way to allow for step-by-step learning.
We found Marie easy to work with. She was responsive, flexible and tailored her program and content to our wishes. She also took the time to walk around and help everyone in their thinking, making sure no one was stuck, and even went above and beyond by spending some time playing and giving feedback on a game in development. All in all, we loved working with her and definitely want to bring her in again!"
We found Marie easy to work with. She was responsive, flexible and tailored her program and content to our wishes. She also took the time to walk around and help everyone in their thinking, making sure no one was stuck, and even went above and beyond by spending some time playing and giving feedback on a game in development. All in all, we loved working with her and definitely want to bring her in again!"
Joselito Sanchez
Norway University of Applied Science
"Nuggets of gold"
"Marie came over to our office and hosted lectures over two days that both had some nuggets of gold but also reinforced the fundamentals. She let us customize the program to focus on areas of our choice to benefit us the most where we are currently at in our development.
Our biggest takeaways were from the Experience Goals and Core Gameplay Challenges lectures that gave us the theory behind building engaging and varied gameplay, as well as communicating the design to your team. Thanks for the visit Marie!"
Our biggest takeaways were from the Experience Goals and Core Gameplay Challenges lectures that gave us the theory behind building engaging and varied gameplay, as well as communicating the design to your team. Thanks for the visit Marie!"
William Karlsson
Sharkmob
"Highlighted ways to greatly improve the game"
"Marie helped out during the development of KreatureKind, offering her insights into the potential of the game in general and the progression design in particular. After a meeting in which we discussed the fundamentals of the game, Marie played through the current build and offered a detailed evaluation of the game’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as suggestions for improvements.
The input from Marie has been very helpful, and has highlighted ways to greatly improve the game when continuing the development. Her feedback has been concrete and clear, and overall easy to act upon. I highly recommend Marie to anyone looking to improve the design of their game!"
The input from Marie has been very helpful, and has highlighted ways to greatly improve the game when continuing the development. Her feedback has been concrete and clear, and overall easy to act upon. I highly recommend Marie to anyone looking to improve the design of their game!"
Anna Högberg Jenelius
Valiant Game Studios
"Influenced how we design for years to come"
Some days remind you exactly why you love working in games! The last week at Erhvrervsakademi Dania was exactly that — a high-energy Design Jam Bootcamp led by the fantastic Marie Mejerwall.
Over three intense days, our Datamatiker, Multimedia Design, and Software Development bachelor students jumped head-first into the messy, exciting process of finding the fun — and keeping it. Working across disciplines and experience levels, they explored game pillars, core loops, and how to align concepts through creative briefs.
The energy throughout the jam was incredible. Students were laughing, debating, prototyping, and iterating — exactly the creative chaos great game ideas grow out of. And I didn’t just observe it as a lecturer; as a designer and developer, I felt just as challenged and inspired. Marie’s practical methods around creative briefs, design alignment, and communicating the core of a game will influence how we work with design for years to come. [...]
A huge thank you to Marie for sharing her expertise and energy with our students — it was a true pleasure having you with us!
Over three intense days, our Datamatiker, Multimedia Design, and Software Development bachelor students jumped head-first into the messy, exciting process of finding the fun — and keeping it. Working across disciplines and experience levels, they explored game pillars, core loops, and how to align concepts through creative briefs.
The energy throughout the jam was incredible. Students were laughing, debating, prototyping, and iterating — exactly the creative chaos great game ideas grow out of. And I didn’t just observe it as a lecturer; as a designer and developer, I felt just as challenged and inspired. Marie’s practical methods around creative briefs, design alignment, and communicating the core of a game will influence how we work with design for years to come. [...]
A huge thank you to Marie for sharing her expertise and energy with our students — it was a true pleasure having you with us!
Anders Vang Pedersen
Erhvrervsakademi Dania
SERVICES OFFERED
Schools & indie studios
This service includes:
- A full week of bootcamp
- Analysis, lectures, playtest and workshops
- Real game idea or fictional game
- Within your creative boundaries
- According to your scope constraints
- Online or in-person
- NDA can be signed
€3500
(excl VAT & travel)
Incubators & funded studios
This service includes:
- A full week of bootcamp
- Tailored schedule as per your request
- Analysis, lectures, playtest and workshops
- Based on improving your game
- Within your creative boundaries
- According to your scope constraints
- Possibility to hot-swap in any of Marie’s sessions
- Online or in-person
- NDA can be signed
€5000
(excl VAT & travel)