Jonathon Loucks
Game designer. Card game expert. Amateur writer, programmer, theoretical physicist. Balatro enthusiast.
Work Experience
Senior Game Designer: Blizzard Entertainment
March 2022 - Present: 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
B.A. Economics: University of Washington
2006 - 2010: Game theory and competition. Characteristics of Games textbook contributor.
More
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.