Voodoo Management
Voodoo Management
overview
overview
overview
Use the power of voodoo to keep your sla—sorry employees productive and reaching those ever so increasing corporate deamands!
Use the power of voodoo to keep your sla—sorry employees productive and reaching those ever so increasing corporate deamands!
Use the power of voodoo to keep your sla—sorry employees productive and reaching those ever so increasing corporate deamands!
Role
Producer, Vision Lead
Narrative/System Designer
Engine
Unreal Engine 4.2
Duration
3 months
Team Size
7 People
7 People
Platforms
Alt Controller
Alt Controller
Voodoo Management is a fast-paced, alt-controller game where players use a cursed doll to micromanage overworked employees in a cursed startup. As Producer and Vision Lead, I drove the project from pitch to festival-ready prototype, uniting a 7-person team through shared design pillars and structured mechanic pitches. I also served as the technical bridge between designers and engineers, translating wild ideas into buildable systems in Unreal. On top of team leadership and production work—including budgeting for hardware—I co-designed gameplay, rewrote UI flow for clarity, helped script goofy shop dialogue, and ensured our custom Arduino-powered Voodoo doll worked wirelessly by showcase day.
Voodoo Management is a fast-paced, alt-controller game where players use a cursed doll to micromanage overworked employees in a cursed startup. As Producer and Vision Lead, I drove the project from pitch to festival-ready prototype, uniting a 7-person team through shared design pillars and structured mechanic pitches. I also served as the technical bridge between designers and engineers, translating wild ideas into buildable systems in Unreal. On top of team leadership and production work—including budgeting for hardware—I co-designed gameplay, rewrote UI flow for clarity, helped script goofy shop dialogue, and ensured our custom Arduino-powered Voodoo doll worked wirelessly by showcase day.
Voodoo Management is a fast-paced, alt-controller game where players use a cursed doll to micromanage overworked employees in a cursed startup. As Producer and Vision Lead, I drove the project from pitch to festival-ready prototype, uniting a 7-person team through shared design pillars and structured mechanic pitches. I also served as the technical bridge between designers and engineers, translating wild ideas into buildable systems in Unreal. On top of team leadership and production work—including budgeting for hardware—I co-designed gameplay, rewrote UI flow for clarity, helped script goofy shop dialogue, and ensured our custom Arduino-powered Voodoo doll worked wirelessly by showcase day.
What Makes Voodoo Management?
What Makes Voodoo Management?
Voodoo Management is a fast-paced alternative controller game where players use a physical Voodoo Doll to manage a distracted office. Each of the doll’s five buttons corresponds to a unique method of disciplining employees.
To keep productivity high, players must identify which employee is slacking off and how, then place the doll on the "Employee of the Month" board to target them and press the correct button. However Choose WISELY! PRESSING the wrong button or disciplining the wrong employee will cause them to shut down entirely, making reaching those KPI's impossible!
What Makes Voodoo Management?
Voodoo Management is a fast-paced alternative controller game where players use a physical Voodoo Doll to manage a distracted office. Each of the doll’s five buttons corresponds to a unique method of disciplining employees.
To keep productivity high, players must identify which employee is slacking off and how, then place the doll on the "Employee of the Month" board to target them and press the correct button. However Choose WISELY! PRESSING the wrong button or disciplining the wrong employee will cause them to shut down entirely, making reaching those KPI's impossible!
Where did we start?
Where did we start?
Where did we start?
This is the initial pitch that passed the project from the pitching stage to the prototyping stage.
This is the initial pitch that passed the project from the pitching stage to the prototyping stage.
This is the initial pitch that passed the project from the pitching stage to the prototyping stage.
Controller document
Controller document
Controller document
So what did I do?
So what did I do?
So what did I do?
I broke down the current mechanics and went through the ideas that the previous team had in order to improve it. It was initially a little scattered with the direction to take the project, but due to the time we had it made sense to try out new ideas that excited us before finalizing major decisions.
There were some things we knew we wanted to improve and build up on that we knew would stay within the whole game. Those would be creating sharper looking and more consistent art assets, improving on the animations present in the game, and adding more functionality to the controller. We also wanted to make it clear to the player who they're choosing to control with the Voodoo Doll, so we had to update the camera system as well.
As you can see adding that small camera in the bottom right corner makes it obvious what character is selected and shows off the animation they're doing so much better.
I broke down the current mechanics and went through the ideas that the previous team had in order to improve it. It was initially a little scattered with the direction to take the project, but due to the time we had it made sense to try out new ideas that excited us before finalizing major decisions.
There were some things we knew we wanted to improve and build up on that we knew would stay within the whole game. Those would be creating sharper looking and more consistent art assets, improving on the animations present in the game, and adding more functionality to the controller. We also wanted to make it clear to the player who they're choosing to control with the Voodoo Doll, so we had to update the camera system as well.
As you can see adding that small camera in the bottom right corner makes it obvious what character is selected and shows off the animation they're doing so much better.
Old vs New Screenshots
Old vs New Screenshots
Old vs New Screenshots
my roles
my roles
my roles
Vision Holder
1. Creating Pillars
To keep the project focused and manageable, I led the team in developing shared design pillars that would guide every creative decision. Rather than dictate direction, I invited all team members to propose and vote on the pillars—promoting buy-in and a collaborative development culture.
2.Evaluated and Greenlit Mechanics:
I introduced a structured mechanic proposal process inspired by paper prototyping. Designers had to present a one-page design doc and a tactile prototype, ensuring their ideas were both aligned with the game's core fantasy and viable for implementation with the alt controller.
Production
Providing a Safe and Welcoming Environment
Fostered a safe and collaborative team environment by proactively checking in on team members, resolving conflicts, and encouraging open communication.
Supported ideas outside of my own preferences when they sparked genuine team enthusiasm—most notably allowing the shop system, which became a morale boost and team favorite.
Providing a Safe and Welcoming Environment
I address team issues by listening, asking questions to understand the situation, and acting as a mediator when necessary.
I ensure team members feel safe and heard by checking in on them if they appear worried or stressed.
Being approachable allows me to better understand my team and reallocate tasks to accommodate their needs.
Allowing the team to pursue the shop idea-built trust and resulted in a happier team, even though it wasn't my favorite mechanic.
Breaking Down Mechanics from Designers to Deliverable Tasks to Engineers
Translated designer ideas into clear deliverables for the engineering team.
Served as a technical bridge between design and engineering due to my experience in Unreal Engine.
Breaking Down Mechanics from Designers to Deliverable Tasks to Engineers
For smaller, more implementable ideas, we created a reference or basic design document.
I presented these ideas to the engineers, explaining them in detail and answering any questions.
My goal was to ensure the engineers could implement the ideas comfortably and clearly understood the requirements.
With my experience in Unreal and Engineering, I served as a point of contact for the Engineering Team.
I assisted the team with questions and provided support for the detailed implementation of the design.
Budget Management
Managed a tight $125 budget for sensors, microcontrollers, and play festival materials.
Researched cost-effective components, tracked all expenses in a detailed Excel sheet, and ensured reimbursement for out-of-pocket purchases.
Budget Management
For the project controller, we needed new sensors, boards, breadboards, materials for the Employee of the Month board, and merch for our college's Play Fest. I handled these purchases, keeping a detailed record in an Excel sheet. We had a limited budget of around $125 from the college, which required careful spending. Despite the budget constraints, we managed to get the necessary materials.
I researched and found the best prices, confirming with team members before making purchases.
My meticulous record-keeping ensured that everyone who paid out-of-pocket was reimbursed.
Designer
Designer
Designer
Focused gameplay around tight, responsive, and intuitive inputs—leaning into the game’s "Whack-a-Mole" DNA for fast, satisfying interaction.
Prioritized clarity and exaggerated feedback through goofy, over-the-top animations for employees, ensuring the game was readable and fun at a glance.
Co-wrote shop dialogue and item descriptions, and helped with bug tracking and polish during final weeks of development.
Post Mortem
✅Achievments
Designed and launched a fully playable alt-controller game with custom hardware.
Successfully balanced team morale, direction, and vision while adapting in real time to constraints.
Got published in Axios Newspaper!
✅Achievments
Designed and launched a fully playable alt-controller game with custom hardware.
Successfully balanced team morale, direction, and vision while adapting in real time to constraints.
Got published in Axios Newspaper!
✅Achievments
Designed and launched a fully playable alt-controller game with custom hardware.
Successfully balanced team morale, direction, and vision while adapting in real time to constraints.
Got published in Axios Newspaper!
⚠️Challenges
Limited documentation for Arduino integration required rapid prototyping and self-learning.
Fitting a functional, wireless system into a small Voodoo Doll was a major hardware and UX challenge.
Tightly scoped dev cycle and limited budget meant maximizing every minute and every dollar.
⚠️Challenges
Limited documentation for Arduino integration required rapid prototyping and self-learning.
Fitting a functional, wireless system into a small Voodoo Doll was a major hardware and UX challenge.
Tightly scoped dev cycle and limited budget meant maximizing every minute and every dollar.
⚠️Challenges
Limited documentation for Arduino integration required rapid prototyping and self-learning.
Fitting a functional, wireless system into a small Voodoo Doll was a major hardware and UX challenge.
Tightly scoped dev cycle and limited budget meant maximizing every minute and every dollar.
📘Takeaways
Simplicity can outperform complexity when properly polished and well-scoped.
Team morale directly impacts project quality—sometimes letting go of control results in better outcomes.
Fail early, fail fast—prototyping and testing ideas quickly gave us the flexibility to iterate rapidly and avoid wasted time.
📘Takeaways
Simplicity can outperform complexity when properly polished and well-scoped.
Team morale directly impacts project quality—sometimes letting go of control results in better outcomes.
Fail early, fail fast—prototyping and testing ideas quickly gave us the flexibility to iterate rapidly and avoid wasted time.
📘Takeaways
Simplicity can outperform complexity when properly polished and well-scoped.
Team morale directly impacts project quality—sometimes letting go of control results in better outcomes.
Fail early, fail fast—prototyping and testing ideas quickly gave us the flexibility to iterate rapidly and avoid wasted time.
Screenshots
Platforms
Alternate Controller
Role
Producer, Vision Holder
Duration
3 Months
Team Size
7 People
similar work
