https://hellodylanmckenzie.com 2025-10-15T14:25:08+00:00 always 0.5 https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/P2074789375530501001800027525080/Screenshot-2024-10-18-at-11.11.13AM.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/A2074796478117265190336105336792/newgamesgif2.gif https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/S2074954732974481217537643171800/Screenshot-2024-11-19-at-4.25.14PM.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/O2076557649814258381133791154136/Philosophy-and-Games-Poster-1280x840.jpg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/X2095601849211743038405257252824/ezgif-2-225c0fcb49.gif https://hellodylanmckenzie.com/education-design 2024-12-02T20:40:47+00:00 always 0.5 https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/O2074789375438267281431479767000/Screenshot-2024-10-18-at-11.21.43AM.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/U2074941108319988840105076903896/5ffb80143f60501af51ccc991b59f3e2657bec15.jpeg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/M2074943630340391853601264291800/26637168951_ed5a8fa464_o.gif https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/E2074944758358791960940345610200/9509153.jpeg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/U2074946991244928363113020968920/a-memoir-blue-1200x667.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/R2074950778822655297526706524120/despelote-key_art-with_logo.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/S2074954732974481217537643171800/Screenshot-2024-11-19-at-4.25.14PM.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/H2074963932790025890186353758168/Philosophy-and-Games-Poster-1280x840.jpg https://hellodylanmckenzie.com/game-development 2025-07-24T19:29:58+00:00 always 0.5 https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/H2074963932790025890186353758168/Philosophy-and-Games-Poster-1280x840.jpg <div style="text-align: left">FIELD-1 With Maxim Kolbowski-Frampton, Aaron Freedman, and Shervin Ghazazani Field-1 reimagines the classic arcade cabinet for modern audiences. Our design goals were: easy to learn, fun to watch & surprising depth. The game is accessible with a familiar objective—score a goal—and one-button controls. Spectators can follow the action easily, learning by watching as they wait to play. Depth comes from a unique push-your-luck mechanic: move too aggressively on your opponent’s side of the field, and your character becomes a goal. I contributed to every aspect, from initial prototyping, to level design and even building the cabinet itself. After two nationwide tours with Death by Audio Arcade and the Brooklyn Brewery, Field-1 has a permanent home in the brewery’s tasting room. </div> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/Y2077941810700562143078588141528/tumblr_mwoan9BrNl1sultsuo1_1280.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/I2077941810682115399004878589912/Screen-Shot-2013-07-10-at-12.15.48-PM.png <div style="text-align: left">FIELD-1 With Maxim Kolbowski-Frampton, Aaron Freedman, and Shervin Ghazazani Field-1 reimagines the classic arcade cabinet for modern audiences. Our design goals were: easy to learn, fun to watch & surprising depth. The game is accessible with a familiar objective—score a goal—and one-button controls. Spectators can follow the action easily, learning by watching as they wait to play. Depth comes from a unique push-your-luck mechanic: move too aggressively on your opponent’s side of the field, and your character becomes a goal. I contributed to every aspect, from initial prototyping, to level design and even building the cabinet itself. After two nationwide tours with Death by Audio Arcade and the Brooklyn Brewery, Field-1 has a permanent home in the brewery’s tasting room. </div> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/N2085771724101804196969071038424/ss_lanzarote.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/K2085771724046463964747942383576/sb_paintTheWorld_640360.gif <div style="text-align: left"> SOFT BODY Soft Body is a meditative action game created by Zeke Virant, funded by Indie Fund, and launched on PS4 and PC. During Zeke’s time in the NYU Game Center Incubator, I helped him align his artistic vision with commercial goals. This included practical advice, like crafting a gameplay trailer, and nuanced design work, such as fine-tuning difficulty to meet audience expectations of a commercial game. Zeke’s exceptional talent and clear vision, combined with my development support, led to Soft Body securing <a href="https://indie-fund.com" target="_blank">Indie Fund</a> backing shipping on PS4 and PC—a major accomplishment for a solo developer. </div> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/Y2087386595759906697661753905112/rewordable-all.png <div style="text-align: left"> REWORDABLE Rewordable is a card game that uses a deck of commonly occurring letter combinations. Players build and steal words of increasing complexity, crafting from their hand or expanding on others' creations. <a href="https://rewordable.com">More here.</a> Created by Allison Parrish, Adam Simon, and Tim Szetela, Rewordable came to the NYU Game Center Incubator as a promising prototype. With my support, the team refined gameplay, visual design, and packaging to address the practicalities of commercial production, like material costs and retail appeal. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Rewordable was published by Penguin Random House. Today, it's available on <a href="http://rewordable.com/amazon" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://rewordable.com/bn" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="http://rewordable.com/walmart" target="_blank">Walmart</a>, and in local shops worldwide. </div> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/P2087394278422985028068391833560/rewordable-game.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/I2468469707199183965288252100568/Project-Rhythm_UI-Concepts_V3-Loops.jpg <div style="text-align: left">PROTOTYPE FOR MUSIC EDUCATIOPN FOUNDATION With John Connelly and John English I'm building a beatmaking game with a music education foundation, working with a visual designer, programmer, and musician. Music is represented by loops on cards and players solve musical puzzles through a systems-first approach that builds fluency through experimentation. The game teaches concepts like pitch direction and rhythmic complexity without explaining them. Players learn through contrast, hearing how one change alters the feel of a track. I designed the pedagogical framework, created a metadata taxonomy for loops, and built an internal level editor for rapid prototyping. This is currently a working prototype under active development with commercial potential. </div> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/L2468489500629362031931974275032/modcards.png https://hellodylanmckenzie.com/teaching-facilitation 2024-12-02T20:40:47+00:00 always 0.5 https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/O2074789375438267281431479767000/Screenshot-2024-10-18-at-11.21.43AM.png GAME STUDIES At the Game Center, we approached game design as a creative practice, much like film or writing. This included grounding students in the key ideas and canonical works of the field. I taught several courses in this domain, including Games 101, the department’s foundational class. Its focus was advanced game literacy—building a shared understanding of games’ cultural and aesthetic history. I also taught Introduction to Game Studies and Video Games: Culture and Industry, which challenged students to connect their passion for games to broader questions including values, rhetoric & commercial forces. <hr /> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/R2078035082179412045514913402840/dylan-speaker-practice.png TALKS AND PUBLIC SPEAKING I’ve given talks about my work and process at <a href="https://movingimage.org/archived-events/indiecade-east-2015-day-three/">IndieCade</a>, the Game Developer’s Conference, <a href="https://quovadisgamedevelopmentbusi2019.sched.com/speaker/dylan_mckenzie.1zatcy2r">Berlin Games Week</a>, and more. https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/L2078057138895960747804651999192/GDCII_Winnie-Maxim-Working.jpg GAME DEVELOPMENT I had the privilege of working closely with renowned designers like Frank Lantz, Bennett Foddy, and Naomi Clark. Their mentorship shaped my approach to teaching game development, showing me how to combine creative vision with practical teaching methods. I’ve taught game production courses, including Game Development: Modding, where students extended a basic Unity project throughout the semester. As Director of the Incubator, I led workshops on project management, fundraising, and team leadership. I’m experienced in guiding games from concept to completion and I’ve taught this process to developers of all levels—from beginners in weekend workshops to MFA candidates.<hr /> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/F2087414767498328858373014999000/Screenshot-2024-11-21-at-3.15.55PM.png FINANCIAL FLUENCY TRAINING What does a line cook need to know to maximize the value of their ownership in a restaurant? What’s the best way to teach them? How can leaders at the company be empowered to facilitate effective education? At Teamshares, I held the vision for employee-owner education and trained company leadership to deliver it. I developed presentation templates, video content, facilitation guides, and provided coaching to ensure leaders could teach effectively and engage their teams. <hr /> https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/N2089155980666784522826491678680/intro-to-video-games-double-cropped.jpeg GAME STUDIES At the Game Center, we approached game design as a creative practice, much like film or writing. This included grounding students in the key ideas and canonical works of the field. I taught several courses in this domain, including Games 101, the department’s foundational class. Its focus was advanced game literacy—building a shared understanding of games’ cultural and aesthetic history. I also taught Introduction to Game Studies and Video Games: Culture and Industry, which challenged students to connect their passion for games to broader questions including values, rhetoric & commercial forces. <hr /> https://hellodylanmckenzie.com/arts-entrepreneurship-economic-development 2024-12-02T20:40:47+00:00 always 0.5 https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/O2074789375438267281431479767000/Screenshot-2024-10-18-at-11.21.43AM.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/U2074941108319988840105076903896/5ffb80143f60501af51ccc991b59f3e2657bec15.jpeg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/M2074943630340391853601264291800/26637168951_ed5a8fa464_o.gif https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/E2074944758358791960940345610200/9509153.jpeg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/U2074946991244928363113020968920/a-memoir-blue-1200x667.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/R2074950778822655297526706524120/despelote-key_art-with_logo.png https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/X2078214713105213943271154307032/NYSTAR-2-1000x288.jpg https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/J2089230316894884155734855045080/digital-games-industry-2021-cover-short.jpg