Hi, I'm Kshitij Khandare

I’m a game designer with a strong focus on creating engaging player experiences through storytelling, thoughtful design systems, and collaborative development. Throughout my education, I gained hands-on experience in level design, gameplay prototyping, narrative integration, and agile production pipelines. I thrive on transforming ideas into playable realities by designing mechanics and crafting levels that tell stories.I am now seeking opportunities to apply my technical skills in design, production, and problem-solving within the games industry, where I can continue to grow as a designer and contribute meaningfully to the creation of memorable game experiences.

One Way Ride

Roles: Lead Narrative Designer, Game DesignerPlay as Mariano Archangela, an astute, systematic, and ambitious member of the Lucchese Crime Family, harbouring a burning desire to ascend the ranks within the family and attain the coveted position of an acting boss one day.

Cave Runners

Roles: Lead Game Developer, Game WriterSubmitted to the Abertay Game Development Society's Freshers Jam 2024 which was a week long jam.Led production and development for a 4-person team to develop a horror experience with the theme 'Finite Space'.

stairway from hell

Roles: Level Design & Version ControlThis game was made in part of the Spooky Game Jam at Abertay University which ran the weekend of the 1-3rd November 2024.Collaborated with a 6-person team and created main level along with managing version control on GitHub. The theme for the jam was 'Endless'.

the ouroboros express

Roles: Video Editor and Motion DesignerAs a freelance creator for Small Loan Studio, I crafted the game’s launch trailer and animated the studio and game logos, combining storyboarding, narrative design, and visual creativity using the game’s story and dialogue.

Writing Samples

Let's connect!Reach out to me on LinkedIn or fill in the form below and drop me an e-mail.

ONE WAY RIDE | Explore my process

ROLE
Lead Narrative Designer, Game Designer

MY CONTRIBUTIONS:1. Narrative Design - Developing the plot and writing the game’s full story for the prototype. Writing all in-game dialogue, cutscene scripts and stories of clues and other interactable objects in the game.2. Gameplay Systems - Designed the Intel and exploration system based on Mariano's persona. Created a dynamic dialogue system influenced by player actions.3. Environment Design - Conceptualizing and creating the gas station environment in Blender. Designed interactive clues in the gas station level. Created and hunted assets to finish the level4. Game Design - Conceptualized and wrote the game in a design document. Assisted my teammate as a generalist in other areas throughout game development

In this project, I embarked on a practice-based exploration of game design, focusing on narrative elements. The central challenge was to create an immersive and engaging narrative that seamlessly integrates with gameplay mechanics.Leveraging insights from literature and collaborative efforts with a developer, I crafted story elements such as dialogue, plot, character development, and setting. Additionally, I delved into level design and environment creation to drop the player into the game world.The result is a game prototype that showcases the fusion of storytelling principles and interactive gameplay. Through iterative feedback and adaptation, I navigated the delicate balance between narrative coherence and engaging mechanics. This project underscores the art of storytelling within the dynamic realm of games.