Lens Flare is a based RPG with a dark, surreal fairytale aesthetic.
Role: Game Producer
Responsibilities: Agile Project Management, Sprint Planning & Prioritization, Team Coordination, Risk Mitigation, QA Oversight
Team Size: 1 Developer, 3 Artists, 1 Designer, 1 Audio
Tools Used: Jira, Github, Google Suite, Discord
Project Duration: June - September 2025
Lens Flare is a dark-fairytale turn-based strategy game where a team of three explorers must navigate a surreal, light-starved world.
Non-Combat Focus: The goal isn’t to kill the monsters, as they are far too strong. Combat revolves around balancing resources, moving around enemy attacks and building up the probability to escape.
Atmospheric Depth: The enemies and environment become increasingly twisted as the player approaches the lighthouse, including visuals created using mixed media like collage, filters, and mixed media.
Balancing art assets & tasks against a feasible development timeline and small scope.
Ensuring clear communication between Narrative, Art, Audio and Design to maintain the game's tone.
Managing the complexity of a custom tactical system (grid-based movement, telegraphed attacks, a light resource system) without overwhelming the single developer.
I facilitated weekly planning meetings where we broke down complex tasks into actionable sub-tasks, and made sure every team member was highly aware of the state of the project and the workload. It was also a great weekly opportunity to look back on our previous work and see our milestones becoming more and more concrete!
I was in charge of creating, implementing, and testing UI for the main menu, including animations and effects.
At the beginning of the project, I created a simple presentation which could be used to present the project to potential new members of the team or future stakeholders.
Early design discussions included mechanics like real-time timers, which were flagged as a risk for accessibility and strategic depth. I facilitated meetings where we analyzed this feedback, leading to the pivot towards a purely turn-based system. This proactive risk management resulted in a final design that was more aligned with the game's core pillars and more feasible for the team to build.
I was also in charge of the documentation such as the game document, the art bible and the narrative document, which get updated every week with decisions and progress.
The game's narrative and unique art direction posed a significant scope risk which led to me working closely with the writer and artists to prioritize story beats and fights that could be delivered within our time constraints. We focused on implementing a few highly polished, Octopath Traveler-style dialogue sequences for key moments, rather than attempting full voice acting or excessive cutscenes.
https://paninoeporchetta.itch.io/lens-flare
