
pleased to meet you

I am Dennis van der Harst, a Dutch Game Designer from the Netherlands with a passion for game feel, player experience, a strong vision and a desire to help grow any game into the best version it can become.
Education:
In January 2020 I graduated from the Game Design track of the International Game Architecture and Design (IGAD) course at Breda University (BUAS) in the Netherlands.
During my time there I have been mentored by industry veterans while working in a project-based learning environment. I have worked to create multiple projects in multidisciplinary teams alongside programmers, artists and other designers, both in lead roles and non-lead roles.
Game Development:
As a game designer, I have experience with technical-, system-, concept-, combat-, UI/UX- and general-design. Additionally I have also worked in a leading role on multiple projects which gave me the opportunity to acquire leadership skills and learn about managing projects.
Game feel and player experience hold a special place within me because of their impact on a game and it is my passion to spend extra care and time on them to get them just right.
When working on a project I try to take in as much information about it as I can, this helps me get the best feel for what the game can become. I then make it my personal goal to see the game grows into the best version it can be. Part of trying to achieve this is by continuously trying expand and improve my skill set and understanding of the tools used. I don't shy away from exploring new tech or opportunities that I think could help improve the project or that could be useful for any future projects.
My peers know me as a very creative and reliable developer who always finds a way to deliver what is requested and goes out of his way to help others through feedback or other means. Someone who has a great passion for games and their development and as a result has a very critical but fair view of what's made, in particular about his own work.

I am Dennis van der Harst, a Dutch Game Designer from the Netherlands with a passion for game feel, player experience, a strong vision and a desire to help grow any game into the best version it can become.
Education:
In January 2020 I graduated from the Game Design track of the International Game Architecture and Design (IGAD) course at Breda University (BUAS) in the Netherlands.
During my time there I have been mentored by industry veterans while working in a project-based learning environment. I have worked to create multiple projects in multidisciplinary teams alongside programmers, artists and other designers, both in lead roles and non-lead roles.
Game Development:
As a game designer, I have experience with technical-, system-, concept-, combat-, UI/UX- and general-design. Additionally I have also worked in a leading role on multiple projects which gave me the opportunity to acquire leadership skills and learn about managing projects.
Game feel and player experience hold a special place within me because of their impact on a game and it is my passion to spend extra care and time on them to get them just right.
When working on a project I try to take in as much information about it as I can, this helps me get the best feel for what the game can become. I then make it my personal goal to see the game grows into the best version it can be. Part of trying to achieve this is by continuously trying expand and improve my skill set and understanding of the tools used. I don't shy away from exploring new tech or opportunities that I think could help improve the project or that could be useful for any future projects.
My peers know me as a very creative and reliable developer who always finds a way to deliver what is requested and goes out of his way to help others through feedback or other means. Someone who has a great passion for games and their development and as a result has a very critical but fair view of what's made, in particular about his own work.
my Expertise
SOFTWARE
UNREAL
PERFORCE
JIRA
UNITY
SKETCHUP
G SUITE
PHOTOSHOP
JAVASCRIPT
OFFICE
...OTHERS
HACKNPLAN, PIVOTAL, TRELLO, ADOBE PREMIERE PRO
DESIGN
TECHNICAL
UI/UX
GENERAL
GAMEPLAY
CONCEPT
SYSTEM
SOFTWARE
UNREAL
PERFORCE
JIRA
UNITY
SKETCHUP
G SUITE
PHOTOSHOP
JAVASCRIPT
OFFICE
...OTHERS
HACKNPLAN, PIVOTAL, TRELLO, ADOBE PREMIERE PRO
DESIGN
TECHNICAL
UI/UX
GENERAL
GAMEPLAY
CONCEPT
SYSTEM
my experience

SEP 2015 - JAN 2020
NHTV/BUAS IGAD
Game Design Student
I enrolled into the Indie program and received my propaedeutic diploma following my first year and 4 projects. After this I got re-enrolled as a game design student and proceeded to take part in 7 more projects of varying lengths and genres.
NOV 2018 - MAY 2019
Infinity Labs
Short Term Team - Technical Design Intern
Technical design internship at Infinity Labs on their Short Term Team working on serious VR games. Here I worked on concepting and prototyping game mechanics, implementing features and gamification in serious games.
SEP 2019 - JAN 2020
Sassybot
Game Design Intern
Game design internship at Sassybot working on the early access game Winkeltje: The Little Shop. Some of my responsibilities were implementing new content and features, balancing, testing and fixing bugs, putting together update posts, managing the community and learning C#.
JAN 2020 - JAN 2022
Sassybot
Game Designer
After graduation, I joined the Sassybot team as a game designer. My responsibilities expanded with concepting, prototyping and supervising development of new features and ideas for the game, creating new content and features and supervising new members of the team.
contact me

If I piqued your interest or if you just want to get in touch, please feel free to use the contact form on the right. Or of course feel free to send me an email to the following email address: