About Me
I'm Hayes, a technical game designer and gameplay engineer from Utah. I'm passionate about horror game design, C++ programming, and character rigging/animation implementation. Check out the list below for a quick summary of what I’ve been up to:
2026 AIAS Foundation Scholar, awarded for outstanding efforts in advancing the videogame industry.
Shipped a surreal photography horror game titled Ritual Static on Steam, to ‘Very Positive’ user reviews and over 1 million combined views on Youtube.
Pursuing my Master’s degree in Game Engineering at the University of Utah, expecting to graduate May 2027.
Graduated with Bachelor’s Degrees in both Game Design and English Literature From the University of Utah in May 2025.
2025 Engineering Officer for the GameCraft club at the University of Utah.
2025 Game+ Scholarship finalist from the University of Utah, awarded for efforts in game design and community volunteering
In addition to making games, I also enjoy writing about them, and have several essays published at the online magazine Unwinnable. I keep a casual blog at Medium/@hayes-g850, where I write critically about the games, films, and novels that I cherish.
When not working, I enjoy reading science fiction novels, watching experimental horror films (Pulse and Tetsuo The Iron Man are particular favorites!), and bothering my cat.