Pete Morrish game systems designer photograph

Turning structure into something that ships.

I work with founders, studios, and teams who want their ideas to function — not just look good. From early system design through to delivery planning, I help shape mechanics, clarify structure, and align creative ambition with production reality.

Systems & Mechanics

Clarifying rules, incentives, and feedback loops so behaviour emerges naturally – whether in products, teams, or play.

Creative Ops & Delivery

Aligning design ambition with production reality – turning complex ideas into something coherent, buildable, and shippable.

Applied Game Thinking

Using game design principles beyond games – structuring engagement, progression, and interaction with intent.

When Projects Start to Drift

Complex projects rarely fail loudly. They drift.
These are the kinds of points where I tend to step in.

Strong Idea. Weak Structure.

A high-ambition sequel with a large, multi-discipline team working remotely across the planet, and significant expectations attached. Creative direction was strong but unfocused, and before production scaled, the underlying structure needed to support a high level of complexity, ever-changing requirements, and sustained delivery pressure.

On Project CARS 2, I focused on building production systems that matched the reality of the teams rather than imposing a single rigid model. Pipelines were clarified. Responsibilities were tightened. Team structures were adjusted on a per-discipline basis, taking into account the strengths, weaknesses, and working styles of each lead across production, design, and QA.

The aim wasn't to introduce more process; it was to introduce the right structure in the right places.

By aligning planning, communication, and delivery frameworks with how the teams actually worked, we created a production environment that could scale without fragmenting. One clear signal of that structural shift was certification: after the turbulence of the first title, Project CARS 2 passed first time – not through heroics at the end, but because the underlying systems held.

Delivery Under Expanding Scope

A licensed title with multiple external stakeholders, evolving requirements, and significant contractual pressure. Features were being introduced throughout production – sometimes late, often non-negotiable – while delivery commitments remained fixed.

Saying 'no' was rarely an option.

The challenge wasn’t creative direction; it was structural containment.

My focus was twofold: first, to create production flexibility so that incoming requirements could be absorbed without derailing the core plan; and second, to adjust surrounding deliverables so that contractual commitments were met even as the surface feature set shifted.

That meant tightening ownership of scope decisions, isolating risk where possible, and ensuring that additions didn’t quietly destabilise the wider build. It also meant identifying where concessions could be made without breaching agreement or compromising critical path.

The result was not a frictionless production. But it was a shippable one.

In a project environment where volatility was constant, the underlying structure held long enough to deliver – protecting the team and honouring contractual commitments despite sustained external pressure.

Building Structure From First Principles

Not every structural problem is mid-production. Sometimes the challenge is starting with nothing and building something coherent from first principles.

Threkka began as six words on a sheet of paper: "Joe Wicks makes Clash Of Clans". It turned into a game designed to help people build healthy habits through systems rather than gimmicks. No team. No publisher. No safety net.

The problem wasn't scale; it was coherence.

Every mechanic needed to serve the behavioural outcome. Every system needed to justify its complexity. Scope was aggressively contained – not because of external pressure, but because structural integrity mattered more than feature count, and because “time is money” is never more true than when it's your own.

I designed, built, and shipped the product solo – aligning game design, behavioural science, technical architecture, production cadence, and App Store delivery into a single, coherent system.

The result is a live product that applies production discipline to a human problem – supporting long-term habit formation through structured play rather than surface motivation.

Different scale, same principles.

Structure first.

Delivery follows.

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Structured Engagements

Complex projects don’t always need a permanent hire. They need the right intervention at the right moment.

I structure most work in defined blocks of time. This keeps engagements focused, outcomes clear, and expectations aligned from the outset – allowing teams to bring in senior structural support without committing to long-term overhead.

Fractional Structural Support

Embedded structural support delivered in defined blocks – for example, one day per week over several months.

Used to:

• Stabilise mid-production driftk

• Support senior decision-making

• Tighten delivery cadence

• Align ambition with delivery reality

• Provide experienced ballast without adding politics

Remote-first, with travel if required – but do note that I avoid plane travel.

Structural Diagnostic

A short, focused engagement – usually delivered over a few concentrated days or weeks and tackling a specific problem.

Used to:

• Identify hidden scope risk

• Assess production resilience

• Identify systemic friction

• Clarify milestone viability

• Provide practical, actionable recommendations

Clear input. Clear output. No theatre.

Engagements are scoped clearly at the outset. Longer-term arrangements are designed to provide sustained senior support at a lower effective daily cost.

If in doubt, we start small.

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