Lora Sandberg
Digital creator
Projects
Plusminus
An action-puzzle game where you solve puzzles and fight enemies with magnetism. Made in a team of six master level game design students at Aalto University in 2018-2019. My main responsibilities were collaborative game design, level design, game balance, and programming. I was also presenting the game in various events.
Plusminus won the jury award of CHI Play 2018 Student Game Design Competition and was a finalist for Bit1 2019. I was also presenting it at the Game Developer Conference 2019 Experimental Gameplay Workshop and at the Nordic Game Conference 2018.
ValoApp Integration
Valo Motion introduced its new mobile app ValoApp in 2021 and I was responsible of the app-device connection user interface on the Valo Motion device side for both ValoClimb and ValoJump.
The app enabled users to save their high scores and videos of them playing the games on their own account. The videos could then be further shared in social medias.
Because of the unique technology environment of the Valo Motion devices, there were many UX challenges and considerations that required careful planning.
Hullaballoon
A party game for Valo Motion's interactive climbing wall ValoClimb created in 2020. I designed and developed the game, was a project lead in a team with visual and audio artists, and organized playtests.
YouSort
A small tool for creating lists of items ordered by any criteria you want, only you need to do the selection criteria yourself. Made with React, Typescript, and 2d canvas rendering in 2022. Original version used Node.js backend with PostgreSQL database, but application got changed into client-side only.
View the app live or at Github.
Frozen Force
A website made with Angular, Node.js, MongoDB, and Heroku in 2014 for a small Finnish game community I'm a part of. I was the only developer of the site and thus responsible of the design, visual assets, and both the server and client side code.
Shadowlings
A puzzle game for Valo Motion's interactive climbing wall ValoClimb created in 2019. I participated in various tasks in the game's design and technical implementation, but my main focus was designing and creating all the final levels and puzzles in the game.
Jumpball
A competitive sports game for Valo Motion's interactive trampoline platform ValoJump created in 2020. I worked in a small team of designers, developers and artists. My main focus was on visual effects and technical artist tasks.
Who?
I’m Lora or Laura Sandberg and I'm passionate about UX design, game design, and pretty much anything digital and interactive, be it tools or games or anything between and beyond. The world is in a dire need of better digital experiences, and that's where I thrive.
I started learning web development in 2007 and have been doing it since. I've made countless of web sites for small projects, communities, themes of interests, and occasionally for small enterprises. While professionally I have focused on game industry recently, I've enjoyed experimenting with new and old web technologies like Angular, Wordpress, Node, Vue, React, Phaser.io, Sass, Typescript and so on. I've created some small game engines on top of the canvas element, and played around with in-browser 3D graphics.
Recently, I've started to miss professional web development. I have a strong interest in user experience and user interfaces, and I believe this motivation finds a better home in the web industry.
I'm an open-minded person, an enthusiastic team player, and always willing to learn something new and tackle new challenges. I adapt well in changing environment, am driven by the will to make high-quality products, and put importance in writing elegant code that's easily understood and extended.
I like taking long urban walks, drinking tea, organizing board game nights, and creating large excel projects for fun (yes, really).
Lastly, for now I feel it's relevant to mention that I am a transgender woman, and how I present myself is currently in a process of change. While this does not affect my professional abilities, I wish to be open about this to avoid any confusion.
Work Experience
Game Designer and Developer, Valo Motion
2019 - 2021I designed and developed games for the company's platforms from prototyping to release and further, both in compact teams and independently. My responsibilites were the full technical implementation of the games, leading small project teams, coordinating the overall designs with visual artists and sound designers, and organizing playtests. Additionally, the work involved UX design, data analysis, and technical artist tasks.
Game Designer, Aalto University
2018I worked as a game and level designer for Plusminus, a 3D action-puzzle game. My main responsibility was designing the environment and puzzles of the game in addition to collaborating with a small team on game mechanics design.
I continued working on the game in a professional capacity indepedently after the end of the contract in order to prepare it for various events in 2018 and 2019.
Futurice, Junior Web Developer
2014As a junior web developer at Futurice I was responsible for working directly with clients to design, create, and maintain web and mobile applications. The work involved technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Angular, Drupal, Node.js, and Git.
Web Developer, Aalto University
2012 - 2013At Aalto, I worked as a web developer in LeGroup, Learning Environments research group. I was responsible for the implementation of projects ranging from prototypes and plugins to full-scale web applications. The work involved technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, MySQL, and WordPress.
Game Developer Intern, LudoCraft
2012I worked in a project team creating prototypes of existing game designs. Additionally, I did front-end web development for various websites including teaser pages and browser-based games. The work involved technologies such as Unity3d, C#, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL.
Education
MSc in Game Design and Production
Aalto University, 2017 - 2019The studies involved several game projects ranging from creating ideas to finished products. Topics included game design, game development, programming, 3D animation, usability and playability design, machine learning, artificial intelligence, graphics programming and raytracing, and project management.
Degree Programme in Information Studies and Interactive Media, Game Research
University of Tampere, 2013 - 2017The studies focused heavily on game research. Topics included game design, game analysis, playability and usability, player research, Internet, social media, information science. I did minor studies in information technology, programming, software project management, user interface design, and Japanese language and culture.
Vocational Qualification in Business Information Technology, Game Programming
Oulu Vocational College, 2009 - 2012The studies were oriented in game programming and production. Topics included game design and development, 3d modeling, information processing, web development, databases, customer service, business administration, accounting, and project management.
While studying, I participated twice in the National Skills Competition of Finland in web design and placed seventh and second in the finals.
Exchange Studies in Daito Bunka University
Daito Bunka, 2015 - 2016I lived a year in Tokyo, studying Japanese language and culture. In the diverse group of native and exchange students, I learned to adapt into new environments, practiced intercultural communication, and got confidence in my language skills. I studied Japanese culture also from the perspective of game culture and came to understand both Japanese and western game industry in more depth.
