Jonathon Loucks

Game designer. Card game expert. Amateur writer, programmer, theoretical physicist. Balatro enthusiast.

Work Experience

Senior Game Designer: Blizzard Entertainment

March 2022 - February 2024: Hearthstone standard set designer. Twist format lead.

Lead Game Designer: Horizon Games

July 2018 - August 2020: Designed the gameplay, deckbuilding, launch set, and blockchain economy for the card game SkyWeaver over a 2-year contract, launched fall 2021.

Game Designer: Riot Games

December 2016 - June 2018: Led first expansion set design on Legends of Runeterra. Used Python to design and implement the card scripting toolset, and wrote hundreds of card scripts for launch.

Lead Game Designer: Americana Games

January 2016 - June 2016: Created pitch docs and spreadsheets for unreleased mobile MMO over 6-month contract. Used Unity C# to prototype combat.

Lead Game Designer: WG Cells / Wargaming

July 2014 to December 2015: Shipped Loot & Legends, a tablet port of Card Hunter. Used excel to redesign the launch set, Visual Basic to manage legacy data, and Javascript to implement new mechanics.

Game Designer: Wizards of the Coast

April 2013 - June 2014: Modernized the process of shipping digital Magic sets. Initial designer on standard set Kaladesh (2016).

Game Designer: Amazon.com

August 2011 - March 2013: Shipped the social game Living Classics as an early hire at Amazon Game Studios. Used excel to write gameplay scripts and design the economy.

Game Designer : Microsoft

November 2010 - August 2011: Designed the economy of an unreleased social MMO, and prototypes for Kinect games, over a 9-month contract.

Game Designer: Wells Expeditions / Calliope Games

April 2009 - March 2010: Launched the tabletop miniatures game Arcane Legions while in college. Maintained the technical rules document and ran playtests.

Game Designer: Matter Group

January 2007 - April 2009: Designed cards for the tabletop game Xeko in college. Used the Conservation International database of endangered animals.

File Clerk: First American Title Company

2002-2006: Part time in high school.

Education etc.

B.A. Economics: University of Washington

2006 - 2010: Game theory and competition. Characteristics of Games textbook contributor.

Cohost: Limited Resources Podcast

2011: 2013: Taught players how to draft on the most popular MTG podcast.

Finalist: The Great Designer Search 2

2010: Finished 5th in a Wizards of the Coast design contest.

Writer: tcgplayer.com, channelfireball.com

2006-2010: Built unique decks and wrote tournament reports.