Rick van Ginkel
Design | Production | Business

 

About me
I have been professionally active in the game industry for 10+ years.
I specialize in design and production for both entertainment and serious games. I am passionate about managing multidisciplinary teams that strive towards creating a singular cohesive experience. My affinity for experiential design combined with a background in software development allows me to make pragmatic effort vs impact decisions for any project.  Thanks to years of experience as an entrepeneur and a consultant, I know my way around business development and corperate culture as well.

Experience

2023

Game Director
Gospooky

Joined up and coming Amsterdam based marketing agency Gospooky in 2023 as their first ever Game Director. I work with the interal development teams as well as external partners to coordinate design and development of branded games and virtual worlds for well known international brands.

2020 - 2023

Senior Game Designer
&ranj

Joined Rotterdam based serious games pioneer &ranj in early 2020 in the role of Senior Game Designer. Besides designing a variety of applied games and gamification interventions, my responsibilities also included producership, account management as well as facilitating and coaching clients in live design sessions. &ranj is part of the &samhoud consultancy group, as such I have frequently worked alongside &samhoud as a design consultant for their clients worldwide.

2018 - 2020

Studio Manager & Designer
Pillar Games

Co founded Pillar Games in early 2018, an applied game studio specialized in translating complex matter into playful interaction. My main responsibilities included game design, client relations and business strategy. Secondary responsibilities included production management and narrative writing.

2017 - 2018

Business Developer
Firebrush Studios

Worked as a freelance consultant for Firebrush Studios, a game development studio focused on board and applied games. Responsible for pursuing business opportunities regarding their board game “Money Maker” as well as expanding their clientele by bringing in new work-for-hire video game assignments.

2016 - 2017

Curator
Indigo Showcase

Had the honor to be invited to the Indigo Showcase curation team for two consecutive years. Selected several promising indie games from a pool of hundreds to be presented at the influential Dutch video game showcase for the 2016 and 2017 editions of the event.

2011 - 2017

Managing Director & Creative Director
Self Made Miracle

Co-founded Self Made Miracle, ran daily operations at the studio for 5+ years, main responsibilities included; game design & direction, production management and deal-making (publishers & clients). Worked on independent entertainment games, applied games, mobile applications and online solutions. Managed a team of 10 creative professionals to deliver high quality products within budget. Designed, prototyped and developed game systems and mechanics for multiple multi-platform projects. Coordinated production with both in-house and external teams.

2011 - 2011

Game & Interaction Designer
Geofort

Worked with Dutch open air museum GeoFort to design a location based, narrative driven augmented reality scavenger hunt for children.

2010 - 2010

Game Designer
Stolen Couch Games

As part of Stolen Couch Games I worked on several multiplayer modes for Zoë Mode’s “Chime Superdeluxe” as an external design consultant.

2009 - 2010

Game Design Intern
Karami

Worked on a prototype for a management/simulation game; “Game Gurus” as a game design intern. Tasked with designing game systems, mechanics and balance. Managed a small team of two fellow interns.

Education

2007 - 2011

Bachelor of Art & Technology
Utrecht School of Arts

Obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Art & Technology with a specialization in Game Design & Development after four years of studying at the Utrecht School of Arts.

Games
Penarium
Game Director

Penarium is a frantic arena arcade game developed by Self Made Miracle and published by Team17. Players take on the role of Willy, an innocent kid trapped in an sadistic circus. The game has made its way into the hands of nearly a 100.000 gamers across the PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android and iOS platforms. Critics scored the game 8/10 on average and Steam users reviews are 95% positive

ANWB Streetwise
Lead Game Designer, Producer

Winner of a Golden Internatioal Serious Play Award, ANWB Streetwise is an educational game developed to teach young kids the basics of traffic safety in a fun and engaging way. Players take on an invasion of ‘Traffic Whacko’s’, zombie-like creatures that are causing chaos throughout the world of Streetwise. Players defeat these Whacko’s by challenging and beating them in traffic knowledge trivia. The game was developed by &ranj together with the ANWB, the leading authority on all things traffic safety in The Netherlands.

Outbreak READY!
Game Designer

Outbreak READY! is a unique, digital serious game that simulates the outbreak of an infectious disease in a fictive country. Players take on the role of a team leader of an international NGO and manage a humanitarian portfolio in the area. By playing the game, real world NGO leaders train skills and knowledge that can be applied in the real world. The game was developed together with the READY Initiative, a US Government funded consortium that aims to strengthen the capacity of NGOs responding to outbreaks.

Albert Heijn Foodstars
Lead Designer, Producer

The Foodstars were a brand loyalty campaign for Holland’s largest supermarket: Albert Heijn that ran throughout fall 2020. The campaign revolved around customers collecting a new set of 16 cards every week for 4 weeks. With these cards, customers are able to play up to 6 different multiplayer card games. Each game is completely unique and aimed at a different target audience.

Aqua Dragons
Producer

Aqua Dragons is an underwater adventure game on Android and iOS created for World Alive to accompany their product line of aquatic pets known as Aqua Dragons. The game was initially developed by Monobanda until development was transferred to Self Made Miracle.

Chime Super Deluxe
Design Consultant Multiplayer

A musical block dropping puzzle game developed by Zoë Mode, released by charity publisher OneBigGame. Chime Super Deluxe has been well received by critics and audience alike and scores an average of 7.8 on Metacritic.

HALT!
Game Designer, Writer

A narrative driven game developed by Self Made Miracle and MonkeyBizniz commissioned by the Dutch Open Air Museum. The game puts the player in the role of a Dutch border guard on the Dutch / Belgian border during World War 1. Players take on the difficult task of determining who is allowed to cross the border and who isn’t all while keeping not just their Dutch superior happy, but the Central Powers and the Allies as well. The game was tied to a physical exposition aimed at children but is still playable on the museum’s website.

BoomBust Inc.
Producer, Writer, Game Designer

BoomBust Inc. is an applied game developed by Pillar Games for Positive Money New Zealand. Players take on the role of a banker and are encouraged to invest in the local economy. Through playing, players learn how our modern banking system functions and why recessions are inevitable.

Heb je even? Red een leven!
Lead Game Designer

Heb je even? Red een leven! (Got a minute? Save a life!) is a crash course that teaches players how to identify accute hart diseases through short real-world inspired scenarios. It is developed by &ranj in collaboration with the Nederlandse Hartstichting, the leading authority on heart disease prevention in The Netherlands.

Summer Sports
UX Designer, Producer

Summer Sports are a number of Summer Olympics inspired cross-play mobile and PC titles published by Spil Games. Players are able to compete in a single discipline or host tournaments across multiple different sports. Self Made Miracle developed the game’s multi platform back-end technology as well as all of the social systems and features.

Game Gurus
Game Design Intern

Tycoon simulation game where you start and expand your own game studio. Originally created by Karami Games, development carried over to Vanguard Entertainment before the project was put on hold indefinitely.

Games under NDA

A variety of projects I have worked on are either under NDA or otherwise not available to the public. Most of these are applied games commissioned by corporate clients. They include but are not limited to; games that increase efficiency of pre- and on-boarding processes, games that teach employees how to operate machinery safely and games that increase brand visibility. I might be able to provide more information on these projects upon request depending on the specific contract.

Contact

Skills


Design
  • • Game systems
  • • Game mechanics
  • • Game balance
  • • User experience
  • • Problem Solving
  • • Critical thinking
  • • Creative facilitation

Production
  • • Team management
  • • Product owning
  • • Agile
  • • Budgeting
  • • Scoping
  • • Stakeholder management
  • • Coaching

Development
  • • Prototyping
  • • Scripting
  • • Pseudo code
  • • GML
  • • Javascript
  • • C#
  • • HTML & CSS

Business
  • • Pitching
  • • Negotiating
  • • Deal-making
  • • Networking
  • • Exhibiting

Software
  • • Office
  • • G Suite
  • • Miro
  • • Photoshop
  • • Game Maker
  • • Unity
  • • Premiere
  • • Audition
  • • Git & GitHub
  • • Jira
  • • Wiki