Game Design · Live Ops · Workshops & Mentoring
Many design problems can be solved by copying whatever's top of the charts this month — and for that, you don't need me.
I work on the other kind — hard design problems that need deep experience, genuine creativity and innovation, or fundamental design thinking. Economies that quietly broke, retention that plateaued for reasons nobody can name, live ops that's grinding the team down, mechanics that have to be invented because no reference game exists.
I bring the battle scars and wisdom that come with twenty-plus years making games, twenty-plus shipped titles, and the good fortune to be trained by bona fide industry legends. I've been Creative Director on one of the world's most successful cricket strategy games, and ran live ops on some of the biggest social games ever made. I've also made really fun games that sank without a trace. Success. Failure. I've had my fair share of both.
I bring old school fundamentals and cutting edge workflows together to solve hard game design problems. If that sounds like something you need for your project, get in touch.
Experience across
I take a few engagements at a time and work directly with whoever owns the outcome — founders, studio heads, design and product leaders. Every engagement starts from your game's actual situation, not a framework I apply to everyone.
A senior teardown of your game from both a design and business lens. I play your game properly, dig into your numbers, and show the working. Covers core loop, FTUE, progression, economy, monetization, PvP and meta systems, live ops structure, and retention design.
What you get:
Hands-on design work for teams building or improving products — as a project engagement or ongoing fractional creative leadership, depending on what you need.
I help teams use AI in ways that genuinely improve design throughput and quality, without turning the process into generic slop.
Selected work
The role I played, the problem we tackled, and what changed — from original 0→1 products to live games operating at enormous scale.
Head of Design · Hitwicket
Rebuilding retention and monetization without sanding away the strategic depth that made the game distinctive.
Consultant Game Design Director
Evolving the flagship title in one of the world's largest mobile cricket franchises.
Senior Game Designer · Zynga
Keeping enormous social-game communities engaged while shipping new features, content, and original IP from India.
Creative Director · BYJU'S
Creating a new kind of learning product for young children, with no established blueprint to copy.
Director of Design · Hike Messenger
Inventing a mobile social-games portfolio for an Indian audience rather than importing familiar formats unchanged.
Consultant Game Design Director
An AI-driven, game-based singing app that turns practice into play — helping people learn one song at a time.
Co-founder & CEO · BigFatPhoenix Interactive
Could a role-playing game help children rehearse the messy social and emotional decisions they face in real life?
Consultant Game Director
Using play to help young people engage with responsible citizenship, leadership, and Tamil Nadu politics.
I fell in love with videogames in 1979, when I was five. Forty-five years later, I'm grateful to still be making them, which means I haven't had to work a single day.
I believe it's a privilege to make games. We're building entertainment that brings people joy in what might otherwise be difficult lives, and I take that seriously. Respecting the player's time, effort, and intelligence isn't just a design principle — it's a conviction.
The most important thing I ever learned about this craft: if you don't have fun making your game, your players won't have fun playing it. I've tried to live by that every day. Happy teams make great games, so I work hard to keep people motivated, high-spirited, and genuinely excited to be building something together.
I've had the privilege — and occasionally the dumb luck — to work with genuine legends of this industry, many of whom are friends to this day. I've also worked alongside some of the most talented developers in India, and we've grown into veterans together. That's the part of this career I'm most grateful for: the people, and how much you learn from them if you stay curious and stay humble.
I've shipped massive hits that made millions. I've also shipped tiny games that came and went without a trace. Across all of it, large or small, the same things always matter: love for the craft, attention to detail, trust in your teammates, and an undying commitment to make things better for the player. That's what I bring to every studio I work with.
Everything I know, someone senior took the time to teach me. I work with individual designers, professional teams, and educational institutions — at the depth and in the format each needs.
For working designers and design leads who want to sharpen their craft or step into leadership.
Hands-on sessions built around your team's actual game and actual problems — not off-the-shelf training.
For colleges, universities, and educational institutions looking for industry-led game-design teaching — from focused workshops to multi-week modules.
"Anand was devoted to the growth and development of a solid design craft within the company. His steadfast and frank leadership gave rise to an entire generation of designers, myself among them, who have delivered great and successful games across the industry."
"I learnt a lot during my time at Zynga from Anand especially how to create social design constructs, how to be more empathetic to your player and most importantly what's the best way to setup a collaborative culture in a team."
"Anand was the mentor I needed at that point in my career. When I was still trying to find my footing as a game designer, he brought the right mix of guidance, patience, and challenge that helped me grow with confidence and clarity. The way he taught and mentored me didn't just help me improve in the moment, it fundamentally shaped how I think about design even today. He had a unique ability to see potential in me that I hadn't fully recognized myself, and he pushed me in the right ways by helping me discover answers on my own rather than simply giving them. Some of the core principles and ways of thinking he instilled back then have become second nature to me now, and I still find myself going back to those learnings in my day-to-day work. Beyond design skills, Anand also instilled a strong sense of ownership and clarity in communication, which has stayed with me throughout my career. Any aspiring game designer would benefit immensely from his guidance, especially in navigating the early stages of their journey."
I speak at conferences, industry events, and educational institutions on game design, creative leadership, live ops, and AI-assisted workflows. Available for keynotes, panels, and invited talks.
IGDC 2025
How AI Shapes Player Insights & Game Design: Real Lessons From a Top Cricket Title
IGDC Developer Day 2024
How We Used AI to Accelerate Game Production
IndiaGDC
Life in Game Development: Corporate vs Indie — Which One Do I Choose?
Ziro Literary Festival 2024
Comics & Gaming: Where Storytelling Meets Play
IndiaGDC
Beating the Bad Habits That Kill Creativity
IndiaGDC
Surviving the Indian Game Industry
IndiaGDC
My Biggest Game Design Mistake
For speaking enquiries, get in touch.
If you're staring at a design problem with no obvious answer — or you need a senior design brain your team can't hire full-time — let's talk. The hard problem is the fun part.
The first conversation is free — thirty minutes on your hardest problem. If it isn't useful, don't hire me.
For consulting, teaching, workshops, or speaking:
Book a Conversation
