Joël Kroon

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Game Programmer / Designer

About me

My name is Joël Kroon.

Back in 2011 I secretly downloaded Gamemaker on my family's computer, where I spent hours teaching myself how to code. I remember the excitement of getting the camera to follow the player for the first time. Years later now, while my skills, tools, and understanding of game engines have significantly grown, my passion for game development burns as bright as it did in those early days.
I graduated with honors (Cum Laude) from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in 2020, where I studied IT: Game Development. Since 2018, I've been working on commercial game releases, such as Skelattack.
Over the years, my curiosity and dedication have led me to develop a versatile skillset encompassing Programming, Design, 2D-Art, and even basic knowledge and experience in 3D Modelling and Writing. This blend of skills not only helps me thrive in small team environments, it also allows me to adapt quickly and fill multiple roles within a team while bringing a holistic perspective to every challenge.

I invite you to explore my portfolio and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating these experiences. Feel free to reach out for feedback, discussions, or collaborative opportunities!

Skills

Programming Platforms

  • Gamemaker: 13 years experience
  • Unity: 8 years experience
  • Unreal Engine 4: 6 months experience
  • Android Studio: 6 months experience

Programming Languages

  • Gamemaker Language: 13 years experience
  • C#: 8 years experience
  • Java: 3 years experience
  • C++: 6 months experience
  • React Native: 6 months experience

Highlighted Projects

Due to the amount of projects I have on display, I will highlight the projects here that are most relevant in showing my skill. You can find all of my other works on the "All Projects" tab.

TBD

Homewords

Homewords is an exciting new take on a story-driven adventure game. Inspired by Earthbound and Ace Attorney, in Homewords you play a mute boy who has to help a poorly-raised child find her parents on an alien planet. Your inability to speak transforms the gameplay: you must cleverly correct, interrupt, and guide Zoë during challenging conversations. Navigate through a tapestry of outer-worldly customs and etiquette, where Zoë's bluntness and tendency to insult adds an extra layer of complexity.

My Contributions:
  1. Game Director
2020

Skelattack

Skelattack is an action platformer game, where you play a skeleton who is trying to stop the humans raiding his home. I joined Ukuza with the role of game developer. This meant I was given both design and programming tasks. This game got picked up by Konami who published it.

My Contributions:
  1. Enemy design and implementation
  2. Level design and implementation
  3. Boss design and implementation
  4. Sound implementation
  5. Polishing Game Feel
2020

Rescue Wings

In Rescue Wings you play as a dog who needs to extinguish forest fires. You do this by diving underwater with your plane, to collect water. Then you can use that water to drop water-bombs on the forest fires. For my thesis I researched the ways multiplayer gamemodes could be added, and I prototyped these.

My Contributions:
  1. Designed and implemented Local Multiplayer Gamemodes
  2. Thouroughly tested and documented the designed gamemodes
  3. General Switch Port Adjustments
2019

Lines

Lines is a puzzle game made by Gamious. It was released on mobile devices and Steam. I got tasked to create 150 original levels for the new gamemode they added.

My Contributions:
  1. Designed 150 levels
2018

Briquid

Briquid is a puzzle game that was released a few years ago for mobile devices by Gamious. I was tasked to create a special PC port of this game for Steam.

My Contributions:
  1. Updated the graphics
  2. Custom UI system that keeps track of aspect ratios
  3. level editor
  4. Steam Workshop support
  5. Steam achievements
  6. Steam cloud saving
  7. Adding Chinese translations
  8. Made the game run on 60 fps instead of 30 fps
2016

The Other Hero

The Other Hero is a small adventure game inspired by "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past". This was a solo-project that I made in about 2 weeks.

2015

Welcome to the Mansion Remastered

"Welcome to the Mansion Remastered" is a re-imagining from my first game: "Welcome to the Mansion". It shares the same premise as the original, however the execution came closer to what I had in mind. I spent around 5 years on this project before announcing the cancelation in 2018. There is a demo that I released in 2015 which showcases 45 minutes of gameplay.