Name: Wheel of Noms
Project: Twitch AFK Extensions
Team: AGS Extensions Team
Role: Designer/Developer
Goal: Create an extension streamers used to entertain viewers while they are away from the stream.
Responsibilities: Design and prototype concept in Javascript. Decided Theme and tone of app.

I was part of a small team within Amazon Game Studios that was tasked with creating extensions for Twitch streamers. The first full month we brainstormed ideas on what extensions to make. This pre-production period gave me time to learn Javascript so I had the toolset to prototype the extensions the team decided to make.

The team decided to focus on two extensions; I was a part of the AFK(Away From Keyboard) extension. The goal of this extension was to give streamers a way to step away from their broadcast and not lose their audience. Viewers could pass the time while the streamer is away by playing various mini apps within the AFK extension.

The app I chose to work on was a roulette wheel. I was responsible for the design, theme, and working prototype (in Javascript) of this extension. I wanted a lighter toned theme and decided it would be fun to have players spin to see how many snacks they could acquire. This is where Wheel of Noms began. The ultimate goal of this app is to keep the viewers entertained for about five minutes. The goal is to get the highest score possible in the time allotted by the streamer.

Wheel of Nom Rules:

• The wheel has 8 slots.
• 6 Food slots that give various amounts of points.
• The Doge Chef, doubles the current score.
• The Stinky Cheese, sets score to 0 and resets the multiplier.
• The score Multiplier goes up the more you spin the wheel.
• Players can settle on their score by pressing the “Nom Out” button

Players spin until they either click the “nom out” button and turn in their points or they land on the Stinky Cheese and it resets their score.  The multiplier rewards players for continuing to spin even if they have strong score.

Once time is up the score gained by the player is recorded to a leader board. Streamer can choose to congratulate viewers who participated on their scores.

It was refreshing to build something from the ground up, and I learned a lot about designing with streamers’ needs in mind.