Mark Grossnickle
Verified Expert in Engineering
Game Development Developer
Mark has ten years of experience in tech with the most recent five being as CEO and co-founder of a remote mobile gaming startup called Kihon. A majority of his time at Kihon was spent on the engineering side and ensuring that we delivered highly polished entertainment experiences.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Git, Visual Studio, Unity3D, PC, MacOS
The most amazing...
...app I've architected was a social drawing game that could save drawings in the size of a few KB and be shown crystal clear on a high-end retina display.
Work Experience
Mixed Reality Team Lead
Taqtile
- My team developed AR/VR custom applications for Microsoft, PGA, Real Madrid, Cleveland Cavaliers, AT&T, Thyssenkrupp, and more.
- Architected a way for our custom one-off apps to evolve into a licensed platform and service.
- Developed and optimized 3D GIS visualizations so that complex datasets could be viewed smoothly on the Hololens.
- While most of my time was spent coding, I also worked with clients, estimated project budgets and timelines, assigned team resources to tasks, and oversaw development to ensure we met our clients' objectives.
- Traveled to conferences and corporations to demo our applications and pitch solutions.
CEO/Engineer
Kihon, Inc.
- Developed the gameplay logic, implemented custom user interfaces, and integrated to our server via RESTful APIs.
- Managed the 15-person studio’s Scrum pipeline, financial runway, business development deals, marketing plans, human resources, community outreach, and more.
- Raised over $2 million in funding, led by Rick Thompson of Signia Ventures.
- Launched Dojo Danger, a physics arcade game. Awarded Apple’s Top Feature.
- Launched SketchPhrase, a social drawing game. Hit the Top 10 Free Chart.
- Launched Baby Monkey (going backwards on a pig), an endless runner. Reached #1 Kids Game on iOS.
- Launched Conquest, a hardcore PvP card strategy game for Steam, iOS, & WP8.
- Completed contract work for Microsoft to port a popular iOS video editing app to WP8.
Client Engineer
Sony Online Entertainment
- Published Wildlife Refuge, a Top Ten Facebook Game of 2010 rated by Adweek.
- Part of a 15-person Agile team following a two-week Scrum.
- Helped create a social city builder complete with time gates, social sharing, collectibles, exploration, and viral mechanics involving mating monkeys.
- Built tools to help improve the development cycle and process.
- Implemented a Rails tutorial to guide players through the onboarding process.
Adjunct Lecturer
Butler University
- Wrote custom curriculum to help students prepare for post-college transition.
- Taught a semester long course for Sophomores to Seniors.
- Required all students to build an online portfolio as their final project.
- Required all students to build an online presence through LinkedIn, Twitter, and a blog.
- Encouraged students to network with local and national professionals in their field for guidance and career opportunities.
Lead Flash Developer
The Basement Design + Motion
- Led and coordinated a team of junior developers and multiple international freelancers.
- Oversaw the technical aspects of all interactive projects by meeting with clients, recommending solutions, estimating production time, and ensuring deadlines were met.
- Mentored team members on technical architecture, coding practices, and debugging skills.
- Technical Lead on National Silver ADDY award-winning KFC advert game, Surf the Crowd.
- Led all technical aspects of the studio that focused on producing 2D/3D interactive content for the web and TV. Clients included KFC, Verizon, and Transitions. [http://www.thebasement.tv].
System Engineer - User Interface Team
Simulex, Inc.
- Developed Flash data visualizations and simulations to fulfill multi-million dollar Department of Defense contracts used in live war zones such as Afghanistan.
- Received the CEO’s Team Player Award for consistently going beyond expectations [2007].
- Created highly customizable user interface components to be re-used in throughout all of our interfaces.
- Created an automated solution to our map creation pipeline. Using this solution shortened our map production time from days to hours.
Experience
HoloMaps Platform
http://taqtile.com/holomaps/We have completed custom builds for Microsoft, The PGA, Ernst & Young, AT&T, Thyseenkrupp, Cleveland Cavaliers, Real Madrid, and more.
Manifest Platform
https://taqtile.com/manifestAn industry expert can use Manifest to create step-by-step instructions on how to fix a machine. Manifest allows the expert to overlay the steps directly on top of the machine in augmented reality. A non-expert could then use Manifest to fix the machine without knowing anything about the machine as the steps would be shown directly on top of the parts in question.
We have supported solutions for Shepherd's Air Force Base, Microsoft, Thyssenkrupp, the City of L.A., and more.
Video:
https://vimeo.com/280405132
Cleveland Cavaliers AR/VR Applications
1. We built an AR application to show how the stadium would look within the city of Cleveland. This is shown in the link below.
2. We built a VR application to allow the client to walk through the new stadium prior to its development. I also recorded and edited a video fly through of the VR experience to allow their sales department to spread the experience without using headsets.
PGA AR Application
Real Madrid AR Application
Dojo Danger
Dojo Danger is a top-down action strategy game reminiscent of old-school marbles infused with superpowers, deadly traps, and kinetic power-ups! Choose from over 30 characters to create your team of ninjas or zombies and destroy all those who stand in your way in this unique physics game for all ages.
Features:
• 100 hand-crafted levels spread across two single-player campaigns
• Five unique areas, with more to come
• Play as ninjas or zombies.
• Retina graphics
• Universal with iPhone 5 support
• Over 30 unique characters, each with their own attributes and special abilities
• Attack your friends' dojos.
• Global ranking system. Play ranked games to climb the leaderboard.
• Play pass-and-play locally in five distinct multiplayer maps.
• 20 unique boosters to power up your units such as sharpshooter, earthquake, and even "nuke the fridge"
• Earn coins in the game to unlock new units and purchase additional boosters.
• Earn daily rewards for challenging your friends and defeating their team.
• Upgrade your dojo.
• Facebook and Twitter integration
• Game Center integration and achievements
Conquest
http://store.steampowered.com/app/266450/"I finagled my way into the beta, and was rewarded. It’s what I like: a CCG where played cards become units on a tactical board." – Tycho, Penny Arcade
Conquest of Champions is the perfect blend of collectible card games and deep turn-based tactical strategy that only the creators of PoxNora could deliver. Think Magic the Gathering meets Warhammer or chess.
Features
• Three game modes: single-player campaign, asynchronous PVP, or real-time PVP
• Customize unique decks with over 200 cards.
• Global ranking system: play ranked games to climb the leaderboard.
• Make cards more powerful by fusing them together.
• Craft exotic rare cards by completing sets of components earned through gameplay.
• Daily quests and achievements
• Regular tournaments scheduled seasonally
• Exchange strategies with your friends via the lobby chat.
• Cross-platform play: Mac/PC and coming soon for iOS and Android tablets and mobile devices
Baby Monkey
"A pretty reasonable price to pay for pure happiness." – Joystiq Review
"A ridiculously cute time waster with a stupidly catchy soundtrack, Baby Monkey knows what it's doing." – Touch Arcade Review
Features
• Original music by Parry Gripp
• Challenge your friends on the Game Center leaderboard.
• Earn achievements for collecting bananas and points or reaching new areas.
• Dynamically created areas ensure each game is unique.
• Tons of unique obstacles (including: sand castles, toxic waste, and even a T-rex)
• Invincibility power-up for breakneck fun
• Combos awarded for streaks add extra challenge to beating top scores
• Speed and difficulty increases with time to take this fast-paced survival game to a thrilling new level.
• In-game tutorial makes it easy and entertaining for all ages.
• Themed after Parry Gripp’s popular YouTube music video
SketchPhrase
https://www.facebook.com/SketchPhraseByKihonGames/This is a mobile rendition of the classic pencil and paper drawing telephone game which is known to some as Chinese Whispers and others endearingly as Eat Poop You Cat. The game mashes the drawing interpretation elements of Pictionary with the miscommunication elements of Telephone.
Features
• Turn-based multiplayer
• Unlimited gameplay
• Save your favorites
• Vote on the top games
• Custom IAP for brushes and colors
• Facebook/Twitter/contacts
• Social integrations for friends, sharing, and OpenGraph
Skills
Languages
C#, XML, Objective-C, ActionScript 3, ActionScript 2, Java, Flash ActionScript, HTML, CSS, C++, Swift
Frameworks
Unity3D, Box2D, Cocos2d
Tools
HoloLens, Xcode, Subversion (SVN), Flash, Visual Studio, Jira, Git
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, RESTful Development, REST
Other
Augmented Reality (AR), Game Development, Software Development, Virtual Reality (VR), Magic Leap, Mixed Reality (MR), Networking
Libraries/APIs
REST APIs, Game Center, Facebook API
Platforms
Universal Windows Platform (UWP), MacOS, PC, Parse
Storage
JSON
Industry Expertise
Teaching
Education
Bachelor of Science Degree in Media Arts (Minors: Computer Science and Business)
Butler University - Indianapolis Indiana
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring