Part 2. Jade Ostle
What do you do at Trailmix?
In my role I have lots of different responsibilities. As a game designer, my job is to look for the best opportunities for our game and lead the team in the right direction. This means designing new features and Live Ops for Love & Pies, researching other games on the market, making spreadsheets to balance the game, and lots more! I like to think of game design as a hybrid of art and science, and we have plenty of room to be creative and pave the way for awesome new things for our game and the merge genre as a whole.
What’s your best memory of making Love & Pies?
I’m responsible for designing events in our core puzzle that let players merge items to help special customers — like Joe, Yuka and Kate — and coming up with ideas for their rewards. I worked with other awesome members of the team to conjure up special customer rewards like Marshmallow the cat, the Miguel fan club, and even a new dog for the cafe. Seeing the dogs come to life through the work of our artists was super exciting and I instantly knew they would be a hit. Some of the dogs you see in our game are based off of the dogs owned by fellow Trailmixers! That personal touch really makes the game special.
What’s the most fun thing about working at Trailmix?
This might sound really cheesy but I love that I can be myself at Trailmix. We work in the office on a part time basis and those are my favourite days of the week; I love chatting to other Trailmixers about designs I’m working on, or the games we’re playing, or if they’d like to go for a drink after work. Everyone that works here is super lovely and incredibly talented. We are also huge fans of karaoke which is something I look forward to every time.
What would you want someone to know coming into Trailmix?
I hope you like karaoke and puns! But also — as cliche as it sounds — just be yourself. Everyone here is lovely, fun, and really passionate about what we’re making and what the future holds for L&P and Trailmix.
On a less serious note — if you play Smash Ultimate, I’ll expect you to 1v1 me at some point.
What’s been the most challenging part of your role?
I learnt my role on the job while we were working to launch the game! I originally joined Trailmix as a level designer but circumstances meant that we had to pivot to the merge genre. There aren’t levels in our game, so I had to learn how to become a game designer while also helping lead the rest of the team in the right direction. That was super tough for me but I learnt a ton in a very short amount of time, and I love the work that I am doing more than I did before.
Who’s your favorite character in Love & Pies, and why?
I am biased, but I love Marshmallow. A very regal fat cat that just lies there all day — what’s not to love?
What did you learn from another job that helped you in your current role?
Before I joined Trailmix, I worked at King as a level designer — it was my first role in the game industry! I like to have a very positive, forward thinking mindset at work, and the team I worked with back at King helped me channel that part of my personality in a way that has really helped me succeed at Trailmix. They taught me that having the right people to support you in your role — and push you to be even better — is incredibly important, and is something that the team at TMX is awesome at too.
What do you do to unwind?
I love playing League of Legends with my friends — some of which work at Trailmix! I am a really competitive person and video games really help me unwind after a day at work. When I’m in the office I will never say no to a drink at the pub after work as well.
