Independent Game Creator & UI/UX Designer
I design and build mobile games from concept to release, handling all illustrations, UI/UX and Unity implementation myself.
Hidden object game
Mystic Hunt
Fortune-Telling Cats
Card-based prediction game
Hi, I’m Natalia, a graphic designer turned independent game creator.
I spent over 7 years in marketing design, and in 2022 I began teaching myself game development.
Today, I create entire games by myself: ideas, illustrations, UI/UX, animations and Unity implementation.
I enjoy building playful worlds, designing intuitive interfaces, and telling stories through visuals.
Mystic Hunt Case Study
Mystic Hunt is a 2D hidden object mobile game where players explore themed maps and collect items to progress.
Role: Solo Game Creator (UI/UX Design, Illustration, Game Design, Unity Implementation)
Tools: Procreate, Affinity Designer, Figma, Unity 2D, C# (with coder assistance for complex logic)
Release: March 2024
I’ve always loved casual mobile games and digital illustration. The idea for Mystic Hunt began during a horror-movie night with friends. They showed me a small hidden object mini-game inside another title, and it immediately sparked an idea: what if I created my own illustrated hidden object world? At the same time, I started a Unity 2D course on Udemy and began piecing together the workflow.
Background & Motivation
Design goals:
Create a visually rich, atmospheric hidden object experience
Keep the interface simple, readable and intuitive
Support multilingual UI
Add light monetization without harming the gameplay
Production goals:
Ship a fully working game independently
Learn Unity UI, scene transitions and animation
Learn C# basics
Build a complete user journey:
menu → map → level → reward → next level
Casual players
Hidden-object fans
Players aged 13–45
People who enjoy stylized hand-drawn environments
Target Audience:
I started the UI by sketching simple layouts in Figma. At this stage I was defining:
UX Thinking & Design Process
Button shapes and colors
Early layout of the main map list
Icon style (music, sound, languages)
How to show “progress” and “locked” states
Basic screen structure: header → content → items
The first iterations focused heavily on functionality and clarity.
Visual Style & Illustration Pipeline
For the illustrations, I developed a 2-step pipeline:
1. Procreate: hand-drawn sketches and outlines.
2. Affinity Designer: vectorizing all assets for scalability and clean lines.
This allowed me to keep the game’s visual identity consistent and crisp for all the future projects.
Final UI Design & UX Reasoning
Main Screen Goals:
Provide instant access to maps
Indicate progress (items collected vs total)
Differentiate unlocked vs locked maps
Make CTAs large and visible
Play Screen Goals:
Let the artwork fill most of the screen
Keep UI minimal: navigation on top, tools at the bottom
Keep tutorial hints unobtrusive
My friends’ and family’s feedback greatly helped me improve the design while I was testing the game.
App store Icons:
I implemented all UI screens, transitions, item animations and basic game logic inside Unity. With the help of a developer, I completed:
Implementation in Unity
Item detection logic
Map progress saving
Ad integration
Multilingual UI switching
Shop functionality
Outcome & Learnings
Even with limited budget and almost zero marketing, Mystic Hunt gained players organically on both platforms. Through this project, I learned how to build a full mobile game pipeline, from concept to store release, including Unity UI/UX production flow, gameplay logic, monetization basics and the importance of iteration for clarity and usability.
Fortune-telling cats Case Study
Fortune-Telling Cats is a casual card-based prediction game. Players shuffle whimsical cat-themed cards, flip them over and rotate them to match symbols, revealing humorous life predictions.
Role: Solo Game Creator (UI/UX Design, Illustration, Game Design, Unity Implementation)
Tools: Procreate, Affinity Designer, Figma, Unity 2D, C#
Release: July 2024
The idea for Fortune-Telling Cats came from a paper divination card game my sister and I used to play at our grandmother’s house during summer holidays. Each card had matching symbols that revealed “life predictions.” I wanted to bring that childhood memory into the digital world. My goal was to create something light-hearted, visually warm, and easy to play, even for people who don’t usually play mobile games.
Background & Motivation
Design goals:
Create a cozy, humorous, cat-themed atmosphere
Keep the UI light, clean and friendly
Make the matching mechanic readable at a glance
Ensure that predictions feel fun, not serious
Support multiple card types (Life Path, Romantic, Success Seeker, Random Predictions)
Production goals:
Ship the full game independently
Implement card-flipping and rotation mechanics
Build a fully navigable card-selection interface
Add basic sound and light monetization
Casual players
Fans of cats and cozy games
Players aged 13–45
People who enjoy light humor and predictions
Target Audience:
I began by mapping the core flows in Figma:
UX Thinking & Design Process
How players select the card type
How they shuffle and open cards
How card rotation works
How predictions appear
How players return to the menu smoothly
The early iterations focused on clarity, soft colors, and large, comforting UI elements.
Visual Style & Illustration Pipeline
The art direction needed to be warm and friendly. I used a 2-step illustration pipeline:
1. Procreate: Sketches, poses, cat expressions, doodles and rough card layout.
2. Affinity Designer: Vectorizing each cat, symbol, and decorative element for clean lines and a consistent style.
This pipeline helped keep the style cohesive across all card categories.
Final UI Design & UX Reasoning
Deck Selection Screen Goals:
Introduce each deck visually
Show the mood of the predictions
Keep navigation simple
Card Flip Screen Goals:
Keep a calm visual environment
Make rotation intuitive and tactile
Reveal predictions with playful motion
App store Icons:
I implemented the full game loop in Unity, including:
Implementation in Unity
Card shuffling logic
Card rotation detection
Prediction reveal system
Saving system
Transitions and simple animations
Outcome & Learnings
Even with a very small budget, the game reached players organically and passed 500+ downloads on Android. The project helped me refine my skills in illustration, UX thinking, Unity production flow and building replayable, feel-good experiences.
Contact Me
contact@idlenoons.com
