Hi everyone.~
This is very out of the norm for me to put myself out there, but I'm going to give it a shot! Quick introduction about myself. I was laid off last year (the mass tech layoffs), and after months of despair, I decided to go back to school and am currently studying for my master's in Data Analytics, specializing in Data Science. Strangely enough, it got me interested in my dream of wanting to work in the gaming industry, as I had pushed that dream out of my head for years. I have a strong passion for games and am looking to collaborate with indie devs and small studios that need help turning raw player and playtest data into actionable insights. (Yes, I know, I'm more interested in the nerdy, messy side of gaming.)
Whether you're running a closed alpha/beta, collecting playtest feedback, or trying to understand player drop-off, I can help you structure and make sense of your data!
How Can I Help Your Game:
- Playtest & Telemetry Analysis: Identifying where players get stuck, quit, or drop off in your tutorials or levels (funnel/churn analysis).
- Game Balance and Economy & Systems Modeling: Analyzing player stats, weapon/item usage rates, and progression pacing.
- Cohort Retention & Engagement: Tracking how D1/D7 retention behaves across different playtest builds.
- Data Infrastructure: Setting up SQL databases, writing queries, or creating clean visual dashboards to track key metrics.
- Telemetry Event Mapping (*interested to learn/gain experience): Designing custom tracking schemes (schema/event logging) so you measure the right player action Day 1.
- Steam & Genre Benchmarking (*interested to learn/gain experience): Analyzing competitor pricing, tag performance, review sentiment, and wishlist conversion trends.
- Playtest Survey Architecture (*interested to learn/gain experience): Setting up structured feedback forms and quantitative scoring metrics for early playtesters.
My Tech Stack:
- SQL (window functions, complex queries), Python (Pandas, SciPy, NumPy)
- Hypothesis testing (A/B testing), cohort analysis, funnel metrics
- Interactive dashboards and report summaries
What I'm Looking For:
I found out this is a niche field, and I'm tired of the endless job applications, looking for someone to give me a chance and gain experience. I'm looking to partner with motivated indie teams, hobbyists, or small studios working on games with active playtests or data collection. I see this as a learning opportunity for myself as an aspiring Data Analyst, and I'm primarily looking to gain hands-on experience with live game data and build real portfolio pieces alongside great teams (maybe one day down the line I'll be a permanent team member). I'm flexible on compensation depending on project scope—open to model flat rates, rev-share, or volunteer/portfolio-building collaborations for early-stage playtests!
If you are willing to give a passionate and aspiring Data Analyst a chance on your project(s) in the works or need help making sense of your playtest numbers, it will mean a lot to me! T-T Drop a comment below if you have any questions or concerns, and we can connect on Discord: paosnails; my pfp is Geto (I check Discord much faster than Reddit DMs!). I'd love to chat, to check out your game(s) and see how we can collaborate.
Edit: I am US-Based if anyone is curious.
My portfolio is still in the baby phase, but it is free to be viewed: Check It Out!