What would you build if your experience

was guaranteed to be Fun?

Hello. If you’re here, then you probably have one of these three pain points:

  1. You’re trying to make a product or experience that resonates, is fun, and maybe even transformative, but it’s not landing the way you hoped.

  2. You’re battling imposter syndrome while trying to find and express your true creative voice.

  3. You’re building something completely new for an uncharted genre, audience, or platform, and there’s no roadmap.

I have good news for you, I’ve been in these positions before and I can help you not only make it, but make it fun. Learn from my pain.

A man with long dark hair, a salt-and-pepper beard, wearing a black leather jacket and a dark graphic t-shirt, standing outdoors against a white brick wall with shadows, looking slightly off to the side.

Hi, I’m Joe.

I help creatives make their work more fun and authentic, creating experiences that truly connect with audiences and drive real growth for your business.

Testimonials

  • "I’m impressed with Joe’s work."

    Nolan Bushnell (Atari Founder)

  • "I got too caught up in some evil FarmVille monetizing paywall, and forgot games are about fun first. Joe inspired me to go back to that."

    Jarred Davis (App Developer)

  • "His empathy for the player guides his thinking on how to make a complex system feel intuitive to users, which creates great games that people love to play. Joe does what few people try—he poses the question, “What makes something fun?” and the resulting deconstruction of fun into its components enables him to create successful experiences time and time again."

    Lira Samanta (Content Manager)

  • " He left us with not only a great MVP, but also a superb design road-map for how we can continue to enrich our experience over time."

    Spencer Hutchins (CEO of Reflexion Health)

  • "Joe’s confidence in identifying what makes a game fun shines through. We look forward to embedding his suggestions and observing how the market reacts."

    Eli Jimenez (VentR-out CEO)

  • "He has a remarkable understanding of player psychology, emotional engagement, and the core principles of fun. Over the course of just a month working together, Joe completely transformed my game’s direction. He helped us streamline unnecessary features while refining the core mechanics to create a more engaging experience."

    Meric O (App Developer)

Sample of Experiences I Worked On

  • Jurassic World logo with a T-Rex silhouette inside a circle.

    Jurassic World: VR Expedition

    Location Based VR Motion Simulator experience launched at all Dave & Busters Restaurants. Winner of UploadVR’s Best Location Based VR Experience for 2018.

  • Sign reading "Legends of Frontierland, Est. 1814" decorated with ornate design, with a background showing a vintage map and Western town illustrations.

    Disneyland Larping Experience

    I helped design Legends of Frontierland, which is a Live Action Role Playing Experience that was played in Frontierland at Disneyland.

  • A computer monitor displaying a neon sign that says 'SNOIRE' and a colorful circuit board design, with a keyboard and speakers in front.

    Alexa Board Game- St. Noire

    Board Game I designed with the GodFather of the Game Industry Nolan Bushnell. Winner of the CES (Computer Electronics Show) Innovation Award in Gaming for 2020.

  • Cover art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Match featuring four turtles in space armor with weapons, fighting against an alien monster with purple skin, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth, set in a cosmic background.

    TMNT: BATTLE MATCH

    Mobile Game I designed with Nickelodeon, including Level Design, Game Balancing, Monetization design and Story Design.

  • Illustration of characters from the video game League of Legends with the game's logo at the bottom.

    League of Legends

    I was part of the early team. I did some game and level design, directed the animations for the first 40 heroes, and I named the game!

See Projects
Wolf Entertainment logo with a white circle and blue text on a black background.
Nickelodeon logo in orange text on black background
The logo for Wreck-It Ralph Games in red text with a black outline.
AT&T logo with blue globe and white text.
Red circular logo with white star shape and orange petal-like shapes around it.
Empty white image with no contents
The word 'PUTTSCAPE' in stylized black and white 3D text.
Large yellow rectangular banner.
Logo of a virtual reality company featuring three overlapping circles with the letters V, R, and C inside, and the text 'The Virtual Reality Company VRC Studios' next to the circles.
Purple logo with stylized letter W and the word 'MODAL' beneath it.
Logo with large white 'X2' and the word 'GAMES' on a dark background.

BOXBLASTER VR

A logo with a red and orange color scheme
Farmers Insurance logo featuring a stylized fan with a red shield at the center.
Blue circular logo with a stylized white paper airplane icon in the center.
Stylized text 'mila' with a musical note on top, in light blue color.
Innovative Entertainment logo with the words 'Innovative' in blue script and 'ENTERTAINMENT' in green capitalized letters.
Colorful logo with the words "My Town" in large, playful font, with a city skyline silhouette in the background.
Logo of Discpline Digital with stylized blue and black design.
A close-up view of a rectangular black object with the words 'Lifebuoy' printed on it in white, orange, and yellow colors.
Parcel Pending logo with a cube icon in orange, white, and gray, and text 'Parcel Pending' with the tagline 'The Package Management Solution'.
A logo with a constellation of stars above, and the words "Imagination is the beginning of creation" above the phrase "IMAGINEERING" in large blue letters.
Logo featuring the text 'DAVE & BUSTER'S' in bold white letters on a red and orange circular background with a dark blue outer border.
Logo of Game Show Network with a grid of nine squares, the middle row has three squares with the initials GSN in white on red background, and the bottom row has the words GAME SHOW NETWORK in red capital letters.
U.S. Air Force emblem with silver stylized wings and geometric shapes, and the text 'U.S. AIR FORCE' underneath.
The logo for the company Accepture showing the name in bold white letters with a purple stylized arrow above the letter 'u' on a black background.
Vent-R-Out logo with an orange geometric emblem above the text
A blue book titled "Blueprint for Fun" by Joseph Mares with a subtitle about making fun, why it matters, and wielding its power, featuring a white curved arrow diagram on the cover.

My Book is available now!

Demystifying “fun” so you can make more authentic, innovative, and fun products.