RESEARCH · PROTOTYPING · PHOTOGRAPHY
Understand players.Build to find out.See the world through images.
Solin Zhang
Game Designer · Tencent IEG Game Research Center (Europe)
Make ideas playable
Paper prototypes, visual scripting and playable experiments.
02 / PhotographyPractice seeing in everyday life
Light, color, and the relationship between people and space.
03 / Game Design ResearchTurn experience into methods
Player-driven stories, design frameworks and teaching.
Projects & Prototypes
All projects ↗
2019–2022
Arena Breakout · Mobile & PC
Separate responsibilities, imagery, and design research for the mobile and PC projects.
2010–2014
Monster Hunter Online
Level design standards, content production and cross-functional collaboration.
2015
Dragon Flare
Game production after founding Solin Games.
2007
Top Spin 3 DS
Tennis game development for Nintendo DS.
Photography
All photography ↗
Game Design Research
All research ↗Creating Player Stories: Full Talk Transcript
The TGDC 2021 talk and audience Q&A: designing player stories through identity, motivation, challenge, trade-offs, and outcomes.
Read the full article ↗02 / Late 2023 (inferred from the text)Researching Player Freedom Through Risk–Reward Design
Risk preference, failure, gameplay loops, and checkpoints: an analysis of Dave the Diver and a Flappy Bird design thought experiment.
Read the full article ↗03 / March 3, 2025Designing Multiplayer Games Around Cooperation
Cooperative design through capability symmetry, objective dependencies, timing, and group size, drawing on prototypes and game examples.
Read the full article ↗GAME DESIGNER · AMSTERDAM / SHANGHAI
Beyond design,
a way of seeing.
I'm Solin Zhang.
A game designer who also documents everyday life with a camera.
From levels and systems to prototypes and finished games, this is a collection of my projects, photographs and reflections on making things.
Explore projects and prototypes ↗ABOUT
Between games and the real world,
stay curious.
I entered the games industry in 2007 and have worked across console, PC and mobile games. From systems and level design to creative direction, production and team collaboration, I have remained interested in how players act, make sense of their experience and create stories of their own.
I worked on Monster Hunter Online, founded Solin Games, and worked on Dragon Flare, MEET and Duel Tavern. I later returned to Tencent to continue exploring game design at NExT Studios and MoreFun Studios.
From 2022 to 2023, I was Lead Game Designer on an anime-style open-world project at TiMi F1 Studio. Since 2023, I have served as Europe Lead at the Tencent IEG Game Research Center.
My teaching and talks include Creating Player Stories: Designing Player-Driven Narrative Experiences at TGDC 2021, Tencent's game design open courses, and the video game workshop at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Experience
2007 — PRESENTTencent IEG Game Research Center
Europe Lead
TiMi F1 Studio
Anime-style open-world project · Lead Game Designer
Tencent MoreFun Studios · Arena Breakout
Mobile: Lead Game Designer, Shanghai team · PC: Executive Producer
Tencent NExT Studios · Bluegame
Project Initiator / Creative Director
Solin Games
Founder / CEO / Producer
Tencent · Monster Hunter Online
Level Design / Scrum Master
Joyzone Games · G-war Online
Lead Game Designer
Joycitychina Games · Catch Louise
Lead Level Designer
TOSE · Top Spin 3
Nintendo DS project · Systems Designer
EDUCATION
Engineering foundations. Design in practice.
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology · Bachelor's degree in Electrical Automation · Graduated 2007
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · Master's degree in Software Engineering
TALKS & TEACHING
Bring practice into the conversation.
TGDC 2021 Product Forum · Creating Player Stories: Designing Player-Driven Narrative Experiences
Tencent Game Design Open Course (2021) · Core Gameplay Design
NExT Direct · Lost in the Deep Blue: From Imagination to Reality—PVP Third-Person Shooter Prototype Design and Iteration
Industry Mentor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University · Video Game Workshop: Methods for Game Design Innovation
Industry Mentor for Graduate Game Design Students, Tsinghua University IDMT
Game Design Mentor, GA Game Academy
Past talks and teaching engagements.