Curriculum Vitae
Yadu Rajiv
Game & UX Designer · Developer · Educator
I design interactions and experiences for entertainment and education. My practice is driven by a need to experiment and push the boundaries of my medium, and to create new and interesting experiences. I'm an instinct-driven designer who applies artistry and skill to solve problems, and uses data to measure, correct and iterate. I love to tell stories through play; games are my medium of choice. Over 20 years I've worked across game development, UX design, teaching and creative technology.
Skills & Tools
Experience
Chief Creative Officer
Second Quest
Lead creative vision, narrative and design direction at this Bengaluru studio building systemic simulation games and community-driven creation (UGC) tools, from concept and brand identity through to release.
Lead Game Designer
PlaySimple Games Pvt Ltd · 3 yrs 1 mo
Led design in the New Games Group: prototyping, product-market fit and scaling. Lead on Tile Match; previously Jigsaw and Destination Solitaire.
Lead Game Designer
BYJU'S, Think and Learn Pvt Ltd (Osmo) · 1 yr 8 mos
Designed phygital learning games on the Osmo platform for children under 10, balancing fun with curriculum and common-core learning goals.
Faculty
Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology · 5 yrs 1 mo
Taught game design, development and UX / information design; mentored students and ran India's first indie games festival, Indie Game Shindig.
Senior User Experience Designer
redBus.in · 11 mos
Led UX for the redBus.in web experience and the redBus Plus B2B analytics platform, including a reusable component system for developers.
UX & Technology Lead · Co-founder
Hashstash Studios · 2 yrs 7 mos
Co-founded the studio; designed and built the award-winning game Circulets and redeveloped Zap the Knight.
Creative Engineer, UX & UI Designer
OSSCube · 1 yr 4 mos
Led a design team on web UI / UX and Drupal theming for clients; drove open-source community building and events.
Faculty
Arena Animation Academy · 1 yr 7 mos
Taught graphic design, web design and animation across the Adobe suite, ActionScript and front-end web.
Faculty
Aptech Global Learning Solutions · 11 mos
Taught web design and animation to international students under the ITEC / SCAAP program (Ministry of External Affairs).
Full detail on LinkedIn.
Selected Gameography
- Model Trains, Second Quest · 2024–present
- Tile Match: Triple Puzzle, PlaySimple Games · 2022–2024
- Tile Empire: Mahjong Match, PlaySimple Games · 2024
- Jigsaw, PlaySimple Games · 2022–2023
- Destination Solitaire, PlaySimple Games · 2021–2022
- Math Wizard / Wyverndell Express, BYJU'S / Osmo · 2020
- Lost and Found at the Mall, GGJ 2021 · 2021
- Social Media Massacre · 2020
- Gone to Pieces, GMTK Jam · 2017
- Badass · 2017
- The Rhizome, interactive installation at the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa · 2016
- Wayfarer, GGJ 2016 · 2016
- Circulets, Hashstash · Most Innovative Game, Casual Connect Asia 2013 · 2013
- Zap the Knight, Hashstash · 2011
More games on itch.io · Portfolio video (2011–2018): bit.ly/yadu-2011-2018
Tools, Toys & Side Projects
- SuperGrid, a multi-stream video wall for watching many streams at once; vanilla JS, no backend
- gets.games, a signal layer for Steam game pages, with a private library and browser extension
- Vellum, a minimalist, browser-based invoicing and ledger tool with no servers or tracking
- SimpleMIDI, a MIDI-controller add-on published on Blender's official extensions platform
- NotesForever, a Git-backed journaling workspace with Markdown support
- ParallaxMaker, a maker and viewer for parallax image vignettes
- Custom Permalinks for Publii, WordPress-style generated post URLs for Publii
- Mini Loops, a pack of short, loopable music tracks for games
More tools, toys and experiments on itch.io.
Publications & Writing
- Developing Turn-Based Multiplayer Games with GameMaker Studio 2 and NodeJS, Apress / Springer (book) · 2018
- GameDev India newsletter, writer, community essays on Substack · 2025
- How to Learn Flixel, Envato Tuts+ · 2013
- 5 Tools to Develop AAA Games, Linux For You · 2010
- Getting Started with Game Development, Linux For You · 2009
- Literary translations from Malayalam: Poetry International (2010), Indian Literature / JSTOR (2003)
Interviews & features about Yadu
- Exploring the Rise of Hybrid-Casual Games, Eximius Echo · 2024
- Online Gaming Is Pretend, But the Harassment In-Game Isn't, The Swaddle · 2023
- First Person Encounters #9, DiGRA India Podcast · 2021
- Making Space to Make Games, Everybody's Talking At Once, Ep. 109 · 2021
- Gamescapes: Art in the World of Video Game Design, STIR · 2020
- Co-founders, Hashstash Studios, NGDC · 2013
Speaking, Recognition & Awards
- GamesIndustry.biz Top 100 Game Changers · 2020
- IGDA Foundation Next Gen Leaders, GDC · 2020
- POC in Play #SAHMGames100, South Asian Heritage Month · 2021
- Keynote Speaker, Jam Jam Festival, Finnish Game Jam, Helsinki · 2019
More talks, panels & workshops
Community & Associations
Past roles & volunteering
Education
- Master of Design (M.Des), Design for Digital Experience
National Institute of Design (NID) - BA, English Language & Literature
St Alberts College, Kochi, Kerala