Robin Hunicke | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hunicke in 2018 | |
| Born | (1973-03-15)March 15, 1973 (age 52) |
| Occupations | |
| Notable work | |
| Website | www |
Robin Hunicke (/ˈhʌnɪki/; born March 15, 1973) is an Americanvideo game designer andproducer. She is a professor of game design atUC Santa Cruz and the co-founder of Funomena.
Hunicke began her career atElectronic Arts where she worked on multiple games includingMySims as Lead Designer andBoom Blox and its sequel as a Producer. After leaving EA, she was hired bythatgamecompany where she producedJourney, an online cooperative game for thePlayStation 3. After its completion, Hunicke joinedTiny Speck to develop the socialMMORPGGlitch, teaming withKatamari Damacy creator and personal friendKeita Takahashi. Prior to the release ofGlitch, Hunicke leftTiny Speck to co-found Funomena together with Martin Middleton, former teammate and engineer at thatgamecompany. In October 2012, Funomena announced their first project: "to build a game that takes data from apedometer and does something fun with it."[1] They announced two new games,Wattam (directed byKeita Takahashi) andLuna, "a tactile puzzle game set in a vibrant and sculptural story-book world", both of which have been released with Hunicke credited as executive producer.[2]
Hunicke is recognized in the industry for her support ofindie games, experimentation in game design, research indynamic difficulty adjustment, and the advocacy of women within the games industry.[3] She has been accused of emotionally abusing Funomena employees.[4][5]
Hunicke was born on March 15, 1973, inAlbany, New York.[6] She holds aB.A. degree from theUniversity of Chicago and is finishing aPhD inArtificial Intelligence with a focus on Games and Game Design fromNorthwestern University.[7]
Hunicke began her work withElectronic Arts atMaxis, where she became a designer forThe Sims 2: Open for Business after meeting famed game designer andSims directorWill Wright. Following her work onThe Sims 2, Hunicke went on to become the lead designer forMySims on theNintendo Wii, and later, was a producer forBoom Blox and its sequel,Boom Blox: Bash Party.[8][9][10]
Following her work at Electronic Arts, Hunicke joinedthatgamecompany as producer.[11] She joined the team in the early conceptual stages for the studio's third projectJourney, a multiplayer cooperative adventure game released in early 2012.[12][13]
After the release ofJourney, Hunicke left thatgamecompany to joinTiny Speck to continue development of their socialMMORPGGlitch.[14]
Prior to the release ofGlitch, Hunicke left Tiny Speck to co-found Funomena together with Martin Middleton. They announced their first project in October 2012: "to build a game that takes data from a pedometer and does something fun with it."[1] Their first video game isLuna, a VR-focusedart game[15] which is described as "a tactile puzzle game set in a vibrant and sculptural story-book world".[2] They then developedWattam, a spiritual successor ofBandai Namco'sKatamari series directed by its creator,Keita Takahashi.[16] It was released onPlayStation 4 and PC (viaEpic Games Store) on December 17, 2019.
In March 2022, allegations were made by anonymous former employees in a YouTube video released byPeople Make Games that Hunicke had emotionally abused Funomena staff, bringing up sensitive information about their personal lives during workplace discussions regarding performance.[4][5] Hunicke later acknowledged this in a now-deleted series of tweets stating that she was sorry that people were hurt by her mistakes and was taking a break but did not respond to any specific contents of the report. Two weeks following the release of the report it was reported that Funomena was shutting down.[17] In May 2022 a report by Fanbyte uncovered additional details including employees stating that they were unsure if the studio is closing down or secured outside funding and that the studio attempted to gain funds by attempting to becoming a work-for-hire company for companies that made content inRoblox. The report also stated that two days after Hunicke posted her Twitter apology, Hunicke and Funomena co-founder Martin Middleton told staff that there would be layoffs at the studio, and that Funomena would likely close due to People Make Games' video and its impact on the studio's ability to secure outside funding.[18][19][20]
Hunicke contributes to various video game industry conferences and events throughout the year. She is an organizer of the annual Game Design Workshop at theGame Developer's Conference, where she helps organize the event and teaches with designersDoug Church,Marc LeBlanc, Frank Lantz,Stone Librande,Clint Hocking and others.[21] Hunicke is also an organizer of the Experimental Gameplay Sessions at GDC withJonathan Blow,Doug Church, andChris Hecker.[22] Many successful games have made their first public appearance at the session, including Jonathan Blow'sBraid and Valve'sPortal.[23] Hunicke is also an organizer ofIndieCade, an annual festival dedicated to independent game development.[24]
Hunicke is a founding member of theIGDA Education SIG, has participated in theIndie Game Jam, helps with theGlobal Game Jam, teaches atUCSC, is a judge for theIndependent Games Festival and a co-head of theExperimental Gameplay Workshop.[25][26]
In her studies, Hunicke researchesdynamic difficulty adjustment. She is also interested in how "the notions of fate, meaning, and consequence can be communicated via video games".[27]
From 2001 to 2004,[28] Hunicke,Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek created theMechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics framework to focus and improve game analysis. The framework categorizes the many aspects of a game as Mechanics, Dynamics, or Aesthetics, and outlines the inverse perspectives of designer and player. From the perspective of the designer, the Mechanics generate Dynamics which generate Aesthetics. From the perspective of the player, the player experiences the game through the Aesthetics, which are provided by Dynamics that emerge from the game Mechanics.
On May 21, 2008, Hunicke was chosen for Gamasutra's "Gamasutra 20", "honoring the Top 20 women working in the video game industry". In 2009,Microsoft awarded Hunicke the Women in Gaming Award for Design. She also earned a spot on the Hot 100 Game Developers of 2009 list byEdge Magazine.[25][29][30]
To date, the various titles Hunicke has worked on have garnered awards, such as the "Online Innovation Award" forJourney at theGame Developers Choice Online Awards[31] and aBAFTA award for "Best Casual Game of 2008" for Boom Blox.[32]
In addition to awards received, she is also a contest judge forWill Wright's Proxi art challenge.[33]
