Олег

OLEH SHESTOPALOV
Game Designer Gameplay • Mechanics & Systems • Sound • Operations
Zhytomyr, Ukraine | Open to remote | [open contact info](look above in the "contact info" section) | [open contact info](look above in the "contact info" section)

ABOUT ME
Self-taught game designer and lifelong gamer with hands-on knowledge of gameplay, mechanics, game feel and sound. I analyze games
the way a designer does: what a mechanic is meant to do, how it feels in the hands, how it scales, and how players and teammates
experience it. I turn that analysis into concrete proposals with starting numbers, caps and rationale.
Alongside design, I bring 3 years 8 months of operations experience: building workflows, tracking SLAs, working with 15+ international
and Ukrainian partners and reporting to leadership in metrics. Master’s in Management, graduate of Genesis “Management in Product
IT”, English C1. Game development is the field I want to build my career in.
GAME DESIGN EXPERTISE
• Gameplay & combat: readable, responsive, satisfying combat; ability kits and how they combine, encounter pacing, mobility and
counterplay.
• Mechanics & systems: ability, mod and build systems, stat scaling, caps, cooldowns, resource limits, and the trade-offs between
power, flexibility and fairness.
• Game feel & feedback: input responsiveness, hit feedback, animation timing, core loops and rewards that keep players engaged or
frustrate them.
• Sound & audio awareness: cues for abilities and enemy telegraphs, hit confirmation, music and ambience for pacing, audio clarity
in chaotic co-op.
• Co-op & multiplayer: role clarity, synergy between players’ kits, avoiding designs that disrupt teammates’ gameplay.
• Enemies, bosses & encounters: building challenge and counterplay without making player mechanics obsolete.
• Player psychology & live service: motivation, progression, frustration and churn; years of following patch notes and community
feedback in live-service games.
• Tabletop RPG sense: long-time D&D player; feel for rules, balance, player agency and pacing.
• Design documentation: ideas structured as problem, solution, rationale and balance.
DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Co-op Character Rework Concept Design presentation, available on request
Rework of an existing character kit in a live-service co-op action game
• Problem analysis: identified three issues: the kit disrupted teammates’ gameplay, lacked mobility and flexibility compared with
other kits, and interacted badly with enemy defensive mechanics.
• Solution: reworked placement and entry mechanics for allies, added an augment that gradually strips enemy defensive layers
within adjustable limits, and replaced a static ability with mobile elements that can be passed between enemies.
• Balance: explicit caps and scaling rules keep the changes fair in high-level content; the aim was a more mobile, dynamic and team-
friendly kit.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Process Coordinator / Operations Manager, Agrofond 2 years
Management position
• Request flow: consolidated requests from 15+ international and Ukrainian partners into one system, with prioritization (P1–P4),
SLA tracking and incident timelines.
• Vendors & contracts: kept contract records, tracked renewals and payments, optimized operating costs.
• Data-driven reporting: introduced monthly reports for top management, showing trends and process bottlenecks, the same
instinct I use to read player feedback and gameplay data.
• Documentation & access: kept meticulous records and timelines of deviations; built role-based access models and
onboarding/offboarding checklists.
• Onboarding & training: took part in recruiting, onboarding and training new employees.
EDUCATION
• Master’s Degree in Management – Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Dec 2024
• “Management in Product IT” internship program – Genesis, Product IT Foundation for Education, KSE, Oct 2024
• Junior Specialist in Electric Power Engineering – Zhytomyr Technological Professional College, KNUBA, Jun 2021
• Self-directed study (ongoing): game design, game mechanics, player psychology
SKILLS & INTERESTS
• Tools: Asana (Forms, Rules, Custom Fields), Google Workspace, MS Office; ITSM/ITIL concepts; basic technical literacy (DNS, TLS,
backups, database permissions).
• Languages: Ukrainian – native, Russian – native, English – C1.
• Interests: PC/console gaming, live-service games since 2015, Dungeons & Dragons, esports, photography.