TY BURKS
Experienced Creative Director & Designer
Video Games, Interactive Products & Experiential
Hey, I'm Ty!
I lead multidisciplinary teams in creating memorable, intuitive, and surprising games and interactive experiences through hands-on direction.
Through nearly 20 years, I've shipped 50+ products across PC, console, mobile, VR, and AR including the renowned Job Simulator, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, and Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land.
I specialize in turning ambitious and unique ideas into playable experiences through clear creative vision, rapid prototyping, and hands-on collaboration through production, whether an original game, or licensed IP.
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My Game Direction Philosophy:
Build an experience that makes people talk.
The best game experiences come from rapid experimentation, strong and surprising creative direction, and empowering teams to make great decisions.
Prototype aggressively and ensure every decision strengthens the core.
I work to establish a creative vision, lead the team, design great gameplay, make difficult creative decisions, and ship an amazing game on time.
SELECTED CASE STUDIES
— PROJECT NAME
Job Simulator
— ROLE
Creative Lead / Designer / Artist
— STUDIO
Owlchemy Labs
Vision: What is possible in an entirely new interaction medium?
When I joined the Job Simulator team, the game was a floating robot and an interactive tomato on the table.
My role was to explore what was possible in this new medium and create a memorable, intuitive experience around the capabilities of the new hardware.
I led our growing team to define interactions, game flow, and memorable player moments, while directing art, gameplay and comedy implementation to maintain a high creative bar and keep the project on track for release. I also created a significant portion of the game’s assets, designed the logo and UX/UI.
— PROJECT NAME
Rick & Morty: VR
— ROLE
Creative Lead / Designer / Artist
— STUDIO
Owlchemy Labs
Vision: How do we create the ultimate VR fan experience with a popular IP?
My role was to explore how we could leverage the technology and interaction systems we developed for Job Simulator to create a hilarious, fully realized narrative experience for Rick & Morty. I led the creative exploration and prototyping, figuring out how to translate the show’s characters, humor, and world into an interactive environment and cohesive storyline.
Aside from general direction, I also fully owned several portions and mechanics of the game from concept through implementation, working with the team to ensure they were fun, polished, and delivered on time. Many of them solving VR design problems that were new to the industry.
— PROJECT NAME
Grandma, NO!
— ROLE
Creative Director & Designer
— STUDIO
WALLRIDE
Vision: Create an intuitive physics playground game that rewards curiosity.
Grandma, No! began as an experiment in translating intuitive interactions from my experience in VR to a flat-screen game. The goal was to create a game where players of any age could have fun exploring, making a mess, and discovering ridiculous characters and surprises.
I owned the entire project from initial concept through launch, defining the interaction systems and developing a physics-driven game with tight, intuitive controls. I led the team toward a unique creative vision while staying focused on scope and polish. I also contributed 3D assets, UI design, VO, and writing throughout development. I wrote and created the pitch for the game, and it was eventually published by Super Rare Games.
— PROJECT NAME
Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land
— ROLE
Creative Director & Designer
— STUDIO
WALLRIDE
Vision: Take a beloved legacy IP and create a surprising new experience.
Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land was developed as a true NES game, but directed with modern game design principles. We embraced the constraints of the original hardware for the initial design and physical NES release, while creating an experience that felt authentic to the era without simply recreating a 1990s game.
My role was to create the initial pitch, core mechanics, locations, and boss fights, then direct the development and art teams through the NES release. We later expanded the game with an optional HD Mode that players could switch to at any time during gameplay.
We worked with Limited Run Games to physically release Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land across NES, PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.
Full Credited Industry Experience
(Most titles are linked to store or case study)
WALLRIDE
Creative Director & Co-Founder
2025 Grandma, No! – (PC) – Super Rare Games
2025 KILLSCREEN Arcade + Beer – (Arcade) – Hackamore Brewing
2024 Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land – (NES, PC, Switch, Xbox, PS5)
2023 Gravity STILL TOTALLY Sucks! – (iOS, Android) – Modist Brewing
2022 Jump Jump Shplewch! – (PC/Arcade)
2022 Gravity STILL Sucks! – (iOS, Android) – Modist Brewing
2022 Project Anchor Demo – (PC)
2022 Island Antics (Proprietary VR) – Real Systems & Penumbra
2021 Gravity Sucks! – (mobile) – Modist Brewing
2021 Wallride Hand Tracking Demo – (VR)
2021 Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl – (NES, Xbox, Playstation, Switch, PC)
2020 EleMetals – GlitchCon Best in Show - (PC, Nintendo Switch)
2020 Wallride Warehouse XR – (Browser/Mobile) – Mozilla
2020 Pet Threat VR – (Oculus Quest) – Colle + McVoy
2020 Minnesota Twins XR – (Browser, VR) – REM5
2020 Uponor Pipe Exploration – (VR) – REM5
2019 Steps of Privilege – (VR) – REM5
2019 Dark Haze – (Browser) – Puzzle Fox
2019 Red Wing Shoes Safety Challenge – (Mobile) – Schermer
PIXEL FARM CREATIVE AGENCY
Director of Immersive Tech
2019 Mascot VR: Minnesota Twins – (HTC Vive Pro)
2019 Drop-in Augmented Reality Skateboards – (iOS)
2019 Lockout Tube Hunt – (HTC Vive, iOS, Android)
2019 Vapor Run VR – (Oculus Rift + Racing Wheel)
2018 Dairy Queen Sour Patch Kids Fling – (Mobile)
2018 Trivia Blitz VR: Coca-Cola – (Oculus Rift)
2018 Invisalign Soccer – (VR) – The Show Bronze Winner
2018 United Way VR at Super Bowl LII – (Oculus Rift)
2018 3M Night Drive VR – (VR)
2018 Finnegans Takeover AR – The Show Gold Winner
2017 3M Connected Roads – (VR)
2016 3M The Way to Safer Roads VR
*2017 Cilantro – (PC – Unreleased) – Butter Nugget – Designer/Artist
OWLCHEMY LABS
Creative Lead / Designer / Artist / Producer
2016 Rick and Morty: VR - (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PSVR) – Emmy Award Nominee, SXSW VR GOTY Nominee
2015 Job Simulator – (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PSVR) – Triple-Platinum Selling, Sundance Selection, Unity & GDC Award Winning
CONCRETE SOFTWARE - Producer/Designer
2014 Aces Cribbage – (iOS, Android)
2014 Arctic Cat Extreme Racing – (iOS, Android)
2014 Rapala Daily Catch – (iOS, Android)
2013 PBA Bowling Challenge – (iOS, Android)
WHITEOUT STUDIOS
Lead Designer
*2014 ShatterRealm – (Consoles – Unreleased) – Designer
GRAVECK
Creative Director / Designer / Artist
*2014 In.Trusion – (iOS – Unreleased)
*2013 On the Green! Golf – (iOS – Unreleased)
2013 Strata – (iOS / Steam) – 2013 Unity Award Nominee
2013 Jam City – (iOS) – Battery Acid Games
2013 Highway Rider DLC – (iOS) – Battery Acid Games
2013 Arcade Ball – (iOS / Android)
2013 Disney’s Super Speedway – (iOS / Web) – Top 10 App
2012 Skee-Ball 2 – (iOS) – Top 10 app
2012 Jump Dewds! – (iOS) – Silver Pick App of the Month
2012 Disney’s Fish Hooks – (iOS) – #4 Top App
2012 Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: Dim. of Doom – (Web)
2011 Disney’s Robot Rampage 2 – (Web)
2010 Flick Winter Carnival – (iOS) – Freeverse
2010 Skee-Ball HD – (iOS) – #1 Paid App
2010 Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: Transp. of Doom – (Web)
2009 Skee-Ball – (iOS) – #1 Paid App
2009 Robot Rampage – (Web)
ZEMNOTT INC.
Production Artist
2009 Eco-Match – (PC)
2009 The Great Chocolate Chase – (PC)
2008 Dr. Daisy – (PC)
2008 Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 18 – (PC)
2008 Hot Dish – (PC)
2007 Mahjong Investigations – (PC)
2007 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? – (PC)
2007 Mahjong Roadshow – (PC)
Ty Burks
tylerburks at gmail dot com
Aside from creating video games, I'm a long-time skateboarder, sports dad, solid cook, and retro-game lover.
Reach out, lets make something rad.