Smoke Break!

Smoke Break! is an 3D stealth-puzzle game following Applewood — a living puff of smoke in a pie factory. By breaking machinery, dashing past bakers, and using smoke to grow, you can hunt down the ultimate, yet elusive, burnt pie!

Awarded Game of the Year at Student Achievement of Game Excellence Festival

Project Info

Tools: Unity 3D, Perforce
Team Size: 30+
Duration: May 2024 - May 2025

Role: Lead Audio Designer

Directed and managed 5 member audio team, delegating tasks and ensuring seamless collaboration while maintaining consistency across all sound elements
Designed and implemented the original soundtrack, sound effects, and audio cues to support gameplay mechanics and enhance immersion
Curated audio references and prototyped sound elements early in development to establish and refine the game’s overall auditory identity
Coordinated with other team leads to keep our pipelines aligned, communicate needs clearly, and ensure all departments worked toward a unified vision

Developmental Process

Smoke Break! followed a professional-style development pipeline over the course of a year, moving from pre-production, production, alpha, beta, and final release builds. The team was structured with a director and dedicated leads for each department, mirroring industry studio organization. I worked within this framework to align audio goals with evolving design milestones, ensuring assets were delivered on schedule and integrated smoothly at each stage.

Early sound prototyping

Unity Audio Integration: Implemented and mixed assets directly in Unity for optimal in-game performance
Prototyping: Tested sound effects and music in-engine for timing, tone, and clarity

Documents Used

Audio Bible: Listed all audio assets needed with detailed descriptions of desired sound qualities as well as references and inspirations
Collaboration Sheet: Summarized the game premise and specified the style of music sought to help recruit and align with a composer

Processes Used

Results

This project significantly strengthened my leadership skills, giving me experience managing a team while maintaining creative direction. I gained deeper technical expertise with Unity’s audio engine and refined my ability to create a coherent soundscape for complex, collaborative projects. In addition, the game was awarded Game of the Year at the Student Achievement of Game Excellence Festival, launched on Steam with a “Very Positive” rating, and was selected for the Game Devs of Color Expo Steam Showcase 2025.