J. Silva
Game Designer · Systems · Narrative · Audio

Jonathan Silva

“What will make a player want to come back?”

Every game I work on starts with that question. I’m a systems designer first: I prototype, test, and iterate until a game feels right in the player’s hands. Story, music, and sound are how I build the world around those systems.

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NOW BUILDING~30%
Luxenomicon: Fall of the Obligator
Selected work

Projects

More work

Tide Wars loading screen design
Loading screen

Tide Wars

Story · Characters · Writing

I designed the story, characters, and writing. Shown: my loading-screen design, antagonist development notes, and character sheets.

Story & writing3 images
Cutscene · 0:55

Almighty Aura

Team Project · Unreal Cutscene

A dark dungeon cutscene made as a team of four. I did animation and character design.

Animation · CharactersTeam of 4
Audio library · made in Logic Pro with ES2 and Alchemy

Sound & Music

Sound design and music are kept apart so each can be judged on its own. Every clip says what I was responsible for, what the sound had to do for the player, and how I built it. Sound on.

Wwise Fundamentals Certified 2024.1 badgeWwise Fundamentals Certified 2024.1 badge
Wwise Fundamentals CertifiedAudiokinetic · Wwise 2024.1 · September 2026Certificate ID b005a0b7-ef21-dc37-d82f-c47d3c56ede4

Sound design to picture

Full sound redesign · 6:23 · Sound Design for Games

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, re-sounded

My role: every sound. I stripped the audio from six minutes of four-player co-op gameplay and rebuilt all of it: voices, weapons, abilities, traps, orcs, UI cues, ambience, and music.

The challengeFour players fighting at once gets noisy fast. I cut the footage so each player’s point of view gets its moment, and gave the traps a heavier, blocky low end so they stand apart from the weapons.

How I built itI recorded four voice actors in a cardboard-and-blanket booth I built where they live, and let them improvise around each character’s iconic lines. Foley came from a wallet, a water bottle, rings, a cup and spoon, and scissors, shaped with pitch shifting, flanger, and granular effects. I field-recorded running water with a Zoom recorder for the map’s water mill.

Coursework: gameplay footage from the game, all audio by me and my voice cast

Lab · 0:19 · Subtractive synthesis

Trailer effects from scratch

The briefNo samples, no recordings. Every effect is synthesized from scratch: three different kinds of water, a sword glint, and the fire near the end, each shaped to match what’s on screen.

Sound effects

Each one starts from the moment it has to sell, then gets layered in Logic from Alchemy and synth patches and shaped with reverb, ring shifting, and bitcrushing.

Spell · 0:11 · 3 layers

Charm Spell

A spell that takes over the target’s mind. Dark mallets with distant reverb set the tension, then the tail turns bright and playful as the charm lands.

Soundscape · 0:37 · 7 layers

Dreamscape Nightmare

Footsteps of something unknown getting closer as a dream turns into a nightmare. Bitcrushed synth layers and ring shifting, with two copies set to clash so it feels harsh.

Alarm · 0:21 · 3 layers

Distorted Alarm

An alarm in a dystopian facility, far off and distorted, swelling until the player escapes or gets caught. One layer is atmospheric, one locks to the tempo.

Music

Logic Pro session for the game loop, showing ten tracks
Logic Pro session for the game loop
  • Hero vs. VillainA hero theme on cellos, flutes, and harp arpeggios, a villain theme on horns and marching drums, then a battle that fights over both melodies. The combat uses a IV7–iii–ii7–I7 progression for tension.Final project · 1:06
  • Game loopA seamless loop for gameplay, built from ten tracks.Lab · 1:37
  • Melody studyLab · 0:19

More sound work

Score to gameplay · 1:30

Platformer score

Music to picture · Exam

Exploring and fighting get different paces, so the music marks the shift into combat and builds momentum through it. Each stage’s fights use a slightly different tempo, so the score grows with the world.

Music Scoring for Games1:30
Gameplay with my sounds · 1:00

Mobile runner sounds

Game sound set · Exam

Eight synthesized effects: merge, level up and down, rolling, rails, hits, steps, and a win jingle. Rising sounds mean good and falling sounds mean bad, and the level-up pitch climbs as balls keep merging, so players hear how they’re doing without looking.

ES2 · Alchemy1:00
Writing, worlds, and tools

Writing & Toolkit

  • Organa Tales rulebookRules · Worldbuilding30 pages and growing. Read it on Google Docs →
  • Lyram storybookWorld · CharactersIn-game pages for the world and its musicians. See them →
  • Tide WarsStory · CharactersAntagonist development and character sheets.
  • Hull Ghosts design docStory · Characters · Levels11 pages: high concept, the history of Gambler’s Groove, and the hero and antagonist. Read the PDF →
Toolkit
Unreal Engine Unity Logic Pro Wwise certified Ableton Live Autodesk Maya Audacity Premiere Pro Photoshop Tabletop Simulator
Portrait of Jonathan Silva
Jonathan Silva
About

Creating pillars, then building worlds on them

I’m Jonathan Silva, a game designer working across systems, story, and sound. I start with the mechanics, loops, and moments of choice that turn one session into a habit, then prototype and playtest until the game feels right.

Music and writing have always been part of how I build. From the futuristic landscapes of sci-fi to old myths and folklore, I want to make games that captivate players and resonate in sound.

Music and writing are connected arts. Each one makes the other stronger.
Open to game design, narrative, and audio roles

Let’s talk

Email Me@Jonathan-Silva.com
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LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jobosilva
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Discord JonathanSwift