SongPop Party

A multiplayer party version of SongPop for Apple Arcade, Switch, and Xbox

Summary

SongPop Party is the premium console version of SongPop made in Unity that is based on the same award-winning gameplay formula (guess the song, name that tune). Designed specifically as a multiplayer party game, it was initially exclusive on Apple Arcade where it continues to top the multiplayer charts.

For additional info about SongPop games, please visit my other SongPop project page here.

Project info

I was the Creative Director at FreshPlanet and my role on SongPop Party was to provide guidance, direction, and to oversee the design. I hired the art team and made improvements to the design processes and feedback loops.

SongPop Party was in development for about a year and in pre-production for a while before I joined FreshPlanet. After we launched in the spring of 2021, we continued to develop new features up until 2023.

My role also extended to marketing and external communications with our partners at Apple, and working with our internal product marketing manager on email campaigns, social media assets, and general game launch publicity.

Production

I migrated the project files from Adobe XD to Figma where we could build better prototypes and collaborate more efficiently. Since it was new to the team, I provided insights on how to best use Figma as a tool for both design and hand-off.

As we expanded to support more consoles, I coached the team on how to approach prototyping for a slew of different input types.

I organized brainstorming sessions for new features and improvements, then provided the structure for how to approach the design from scratch. I participated in roadmap planning, writing specs, and signing off on the UX and UI design.

I guided the team in conducting effective playtests, working to validate our assumptions about usability and player behaviour. I encouraged our team to do ample competitive research. I provided advice and methods for dealing with localization (both in-game and in marketing), and also art style guidance and documentation of design methods, standards, and liveops checklists.

Collaborative brainstorm whiteboarding in FigJam

Design

Press

👀 My article for Xbox Wire for the Xbox launch of SongPop Party.

👀 My interview on the Gameloft blog about making the art in SongPop Party.

Team Management

At FreshPlanet I had seven direct reports. Three UI/UX Designers and four 2D Animator/Illustrators. We were distributed between NYC, Montreal, and Toronto. I worked closely with developers, product managers, producers, and players and it was a great team.