- Gameplay & Mission Designer
Narrative Systems & Worldbuilding
Design-leaning Producer & Coordinator
Narrative Systems & Worldbuilding
Design-leaning Producer & Coordinator
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
Desol
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 gameplay and narrative designer who turns complex worlds and human relationships into playable experiences.
Her favorite design question is always: “What does the player see, do, and feel here?”
She specializes in weaving worldbuilding, philosophy, and emotion into quests, missions, and level flows. Whether it’s a psychological mystery or a semi-open survival world, a PC game, mobile title, or interactive installation, Rosie focuses on how narrative logic supports player guidance, pacing, and motivation. With a background in screenplay writing and UX, she treats stories as systems: something players move through, test, and reshape moment by moment.
Since 2018, Rosie has worked across technical design, creative direction, production, and UI/UX on projects ranging from thesis-scale games to large exhibition pieces. She understands that every department speaks its own language, and she enjoys being the person who connects them. On teams of 10–40 people, she has defined story pillars and mission structures, coordinated timelines and documentation, and then built prototypes herself to prove out ideas.
Rosie prototypes quickly. She builds and tests mechanic loops in Unity, blocks out level flows in Unreal, and visualizes systems and moods in Miro, Figma, and Procreate. This hybrid workflow lets her talk concretely with artists, designers, and engineers, aligning creative vision with technical reality rather than leaving it at the pitch level.
Her creative approach combines grounded research with imaginative speculation. She is drawn to themes of post-apocalyptic worlds, intergenerational trauma, mental health, queer identity, reimagined Chinese folklore, and memory and dreams, crafting experiences that look for meaning in vulnerability. With a foundation in interactive media and documentary practices, she approaches narrative design as both creator and researcher, building worlds and characters that are emotionally resonant, culturally and medically informed, and specific in detail.
Above all, Rosie sees storytelling as an act of connection. She works best inside collaborative teams, balancing her own vision with respect for process, communication, and long-term partnership.
Game Design: Quest & Mission Design · Encounter & Level Pacing · Exploration & Player Guidance · Worldbuilding & Environmental Storytelling · Onboarding & Tutorials · Playtesting & Iteration
Implementation: Unity (prefabs, timeline, ProBuilder) · Unreal Engine · C# / Visual Scripting · Blueprint · Perforce · Git
Collaboration & Tools: Documentation & Flowcharts · Jira · Miro · Notion · Figma · Adobe Suite · Bilingual: English / Mandarin
Awards and Exhibitions: MUSE Creative Awards Silver Winner (2024), IGF alt.ctrl.GDC Finalist (2025) – How to Pet Your Cat;
Exhibited at GDC 2025, Day of the Devs 2025, IGN Live 2025, CatCon 2025, USC Games Expo (2023, 2025).
© Rosie Gao 2025