Since 2006, I've built a career within game design, worldbuilding, storytelling and play experience design. Over the years, I've worked with a number of market leading companies, such as LEGO, SYBO, Fox Entertainment and many others, to create new products and experiences. My worklife is built upon a life long passion for games and storytelling, together with an M.A. in philosophy and history that has given me invaluable tools, when it comes to building consistent worlds and narratives.
For more info on my previous experience, see the (non-exhaustive) list of career projects and highlights below.
C-3O, Founder, Designer & Consultant (2015 - 2024)
In early 2020, I started working full time in my company 'Widowgrove' as a Game-, Play- and Experience design consultant, working with a number of high profile clients - such as Funday Games and the Danish National Museum. Several of the projects below have been developed in my time as self employed @ Widowgrove and are (non-exhaustive) examples of my consultancy work.
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020 - 2023)
I've worked with Funday Factory on several projects as an independent consultant, creatively leading concept development, new pitches, prototyping and IP Development - both for mobile and PC games, as well as gamification projects. The projects are under NDA and therefore cannot be disclosed in detail.
Leading concept development and game design for new product pitches.
Creative team lead on new prototypes.
Assisting internal teams with Worldbuilding and IP Development.
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020-2022)
Working with gamification, game- and experience design, my task was to design and supervise the development of the gamified experience to the Ka-Ching! exhibition - from initial concept design, all the way to the opening. I also took part in a number of workshops on play, gamification and experience design for future museum experiences and served as Exhibition Director for 3 months.
"The Money Game" was nominated for the 2023 Danish Game Award for "Best Emergent Experience".
Designing a new and innovative, gamified exhibition experience.
Supervising design and development with numerous stakeholders.
Working as Exhibition Director (for 3 months) during 2021.
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2022-2023)
Using worldbuilding, game design and roleplaying techniques, I helped develop a new workshop format to promote technology exploration and adaption, as well as 'future foresight' at DBI (The Danish Institute for Fire and Security Technology). This pilot project was developed in a collaboration between DBI, Baaring Stories and Widowgrove.
Concept Development & Workshop Design
Worldbuilding - creating the future scenario in collaboration with DBI experts
Content creation & workshop facilitation
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020 - 2024)
During my full-time occupation with Widowgrove, I've created a number of board- and card games - including the "Ka-ching!" boardgame and a to-be disclosed title for Museum shops at the Danish National Museum. Additionally, I've created a number of my own board- and card games.
Ideation, concept development and prototyping
Board and Card Game Design
Product development, Supervision and Sparring
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020 - )
I've been conducting workshops and teaching Game Design, Gamification, Concept Development and Worldbuilding within both private companies and educational institutions (bachelor level and higher). Institutions include: The Animation Workship in Viborg, the game development collage Dania GAMES and the Danish school of media and journalism (DMJX).
Planning and running workshops based on the needs of the client.
Teaching, knowledge sharing and sparring (both 1-on-1 and with teams)
Conducting both online and onsite workshops (from 1-day to multiple weeks)
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020-2022)
WestWind Challenge is a new event, aiming to showcase the future of electrified transportation. At the heart of the event is a 6-hour endurance challenge for electric cars, competing on the open road - with charging infrastructure, car efficiency and driver strategy coming into play. I've been working with the WWC core team, tasked with designing the race challenge format, scoring system and more.
Concept design for the race format and experience design.
Detail design of track layout, scoring and other game elements.
Producing concept and design material for the WWC to take into production.
Independent Consultant @ Widowgrove (2020)
Naturkraft is a vast, new Danish tourist attraction, with a focus on experiencing and understanding the forces of nature, natural phenomena and sustainable living. My primary role in Naturkraft has been designing, creating and implementing the park “expeditions”, which is a key feature that help visitors find concrete, playful ways to interact with the park installations and the nature around them.
Play experience design with a strong STEM focus.
Broad STEM themed research for expedition conceptualization.
Content creation and writing for on-site Expedition materials.
Creative Lead / Lead Game Designer @ Funday Factory (2016 - 2020)
At Funday Factory, I've worked with market leading companies like SYBO, LEGO, Fox and several others, developing new games and experiences for their brands - some of which have racked up litterally billions of installs. I've taken projects from first ideas through concept development, pitching and prototyping all the way to market for Funday's key clients and partners.
Play Experience Designer @ Funday Factory (2016 - 2017)
I was part of the LEGO Boost app and play development team at Funday Factory from the concept phase all the way through to launch. I was tasked with designing the play experience, onboarding, gamification and app experience in close collaboration with our colleagues and stakeholders at LEGO. The product went on to win numerous "Best of CES" awards, as well as the ToyAward at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 2017.
Instructor and Facilitator @ The Animation Workshop (2017 - 2020)
Drawing upon years of experience in world building, I hold seminars on world building as a creative tool to develop the foundations for cross-platform IP's. The seminars have been in the form of 3-day 'World Building Jams' where participants try to develop their own narrative foundation in groups by solving a set of challenges - with sparring from myself and my co-host.
Author & Worldbuilder @ Widowgrove (2016)
Shades is my Urban Fantasy debut novel, selfpublished under the Widowgrove label, which - as of Jan 1st 2020 - holds a 4.6 out of 5 star user rating on Amazon. One reader reviewer wrote: "A page turner in the genre of magic realism, that is a cross between Dan Brown and Neil Gaiman. Better than Dan Brown, not quite up in the Neil Gaiman sky, but who can blame him. Good book!"
6 x Nordic Game Jam Award Winner (2012 - Now)
For several years, I've attended a great number of game jams, both as a participant and as a jury member. Over the years, my teams and I have won 6 awards at the Nordic Game Jam - the worlds biggest game jam with almost 1000 participants creating 182 games at the 10 year aniversary jam in 2016.
Creative Lead / Lead Game Designer @ Unity Studios (2012 - 2015)
During my time at Unity Studios, we developed a demo of the pirate themed realtime PvP game 'Dead Water'. I took the game from first idea through concept development, pitching and prototyping - with the development being supported by DFI (The Danish Film Institute) with more than 100.000 $.
Creative Lead / Lead Game Designer @ Unity Studios (2012 - 2015)
As Lead Designer / Creative Lead at Unity Studios, I took the creative app experience "Let's Grow!" from initial concept and all the way through to launch. The game featured a revolutionary growth algorithm that allowed the user to grow truly unique virtual plants on the iPad and share their creations with the community.
Play Experience Designer, Author & Worldbuilder (2010)
Noorhjem was an Alternate Reality experience rolled out across more than 30 Danish tourist attractions. As a player, you could take on the role as the hero in an urban fantasy narrative on your phone, with certain events requiring you to visit one of the tourist attraction to move on in the story. My role was doing research, worldbuilding, experience design at the attractions and writing fiction for the story.
Game Designer, Worldbuilder & IP Guardian @ TCDigital (2007 - 2010)
Chaotic was a market leading TCG on sale in 17 countries and was the first to digitally mirror physical cards online via alphanumeric upload codes. In addition to the game itself, the IP also supported 79 prime-time TV episodes, books, console games, merchandise, organized play and a huge online community. During my time on Chaotic, I worked as a writer, game designer, worldbuilder and IP guardian.
External Lecturer (2006 - 2008)
At Aarhus University's department of dramaturgy, I held a number of lectures on MMORPGs as part of the the Master's Degree courses between 2006 and 2008.
Game Design, Author & IP Guardian @ Danmarks Radio (2006 - 2007)
Barda is a hit children's TV-show that ran for 6 seasons on Danmarks Radio and helped trigger a surge of interest in roleplaying games in Denmark. In the time of the first and second season, I worked at Danmarks Radio as a IP guardian, game designer and writer, tasked with producing narrative content and game design for the Barda web portal, while ensuring that it remained in line with the Barda IP.
Author (2007)
P.B.O.R. is a "how-to" book on roleplaying - both live and table top. The book introduces the reader to the basics of roleplaying and offers a simple set of rules, as well as a fantasy setting to start playing in. The book was published at "Politiken", one of Denmark's leading publishing houses and was written together with my brother Martin Rauff-Nielsen.
MA in Philosophy & History (2000 - 2006)
I took my Master's Degree in philosophy and history from Aarhus University, graduating in 2006. During the final years, I also worked as an associate instructor to the new first year students, teaching "formal logic and theory of argumentation".
Coming from an educational background as a philosopher and historian, I've worked with game design, play design, worldbuilding and writing fiction for some of the biggest players on the international market for more than 15 years.
Copyright @ Anders Rauff-Nielsen - All Rights Reserved
