A game narrative designer,
An interactive media storyteller
About Me
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M.F.A in Game and Interactive Media
2022 - 2025
New York University
B.S. in Interactive Media Arts,
Minor in Creative Writing
2017 – 2021
Unannounced Thesis Game
Present
Creative Director
Alibi
2024 - 2025
Associate Director, UIUX Designer
How to Pet Your Cat
2024
Associate Director, Level Designer
InSync
2024 - 2025
Design Lead, Quest Designer
Abort: The Exile
2023 - 2024
Narrative Designer, Writer
Installation Wizard
2023 - 2024
Narrative Designer, Writer
Grandma Green
2022 - 2023
Narrative Designer, Writer
Machine Heart
2022 - 2023
SEASUN GAMES
2021 - 2022
UIUX Student Designer
Alipay (Shanghai)
2021
User Research Intern
Microsoft (Chengdu)
2020
Manager Assistant Intern
Microsoft Professional Program
2018
Game Development Principle, Tabletop RPG, Game System Design
USC Games
2023-2025
Information Assistant
NYU Academic Resource Center
2018
2025
MUSE Creative Awards Silver Winner 2024
Day of the Devs 2025,
IGN Live 2025,
CatCon 2025,
USC Games Expo (2023, 2025)
Last Updated 25.11.05
Rosie Gao is a game narrative and quest designer who transforms complex worlds and human relationships into playable experiences.
She believes that good storytelling is to be embodied.
Her favorite question is always: What does the player see, do, and feel here?
Rosie specializes in weaving worldbuilding, philosophy, and emotion into quest and level design. Whether it’s a psychological mystery or a semi-open world of survival, a PC game, mobile game or an interactive installtion, she focuses on how narrative logic can support player guidance, pacing, and motivation. With a background in creative writing and user experience, her stories aim to be both literary and interactive—balancing depth with clarity and flow.
Having worked across technical design, creative direction, art production, and UI/UX since 2018, Rosie understands how every department speaks its own language. She bridges those gaps not only through documentation and coordination, but also through hands-on prototyping. She builds and tests mechanic loops in Unity, blocks out level flows in Unreal, and visualizes ideas in Miro, Figma, and Procreate. This hybrid workflow allows her to communicate fluently with artists, designers, and engineers, aligning creative vision with technical reality.
Her creative approach combines grounded research with imaginative speculation. She’s drawn to themes of memory and dreams, intergenerational trauma, mental health, queer identity, reimagined Chinese folklore, and post-apocalyptic worlds, crafting stories that find meaning in vulnerability. With a foundation in interactive media and documentary practices, Rosie approaches narrative design as both creator and researcher, building worlds and characters that are emotionally resonant, culturally and medically grounded, and memorable in detail.
Above all, Rosie sees storytelling as an act of connection. She performs best while working for and with people, balancing her own vision with a respect for process, communication, and long-term collaboration.
Game Design: Level & Mission Design · Playtesting & Iteration · Usability Testing · Worldbuilding
Technical Tools: Unity · Unrea· C# /Javascript / Visual Scripting / Blueprint · Perforce · Git · Processing · Arduino
Others: Jira / Miro / Notion · Figma · Procreate · Adobe Illustrator · Microsoft Office Suite · English/Mandarin
© Rosie Gao 2025