Friend Castle
Friend Castle Splash Image

An indie game development LLC I co-founded with friends. We handle everything from design and engineering to production and publishing.

Check out the website!
Schedazzle

  • Description:
    A free event scheduling companion app for conventions and expos. Promoters input schedules, attendees customize their personal itinerary on-device.

  • Role:
    Engineer/Lead, Technical Producer

    • Schedazzle event scheduling app promo App Store Google Play
    Box Dog

  • Description:
    A hidden object game with hand-drawn levels. Guide Joget and Box Dog through vibrant worlds searching for mischievous Imps.

  • Role:
    Engineer/Lead, Technical Producer

    • Contract Work
    Gnome Hunt

  • Description:
    AR game built as contract work for Niantic to showcase their Lightship SDK/API.

  • Role:
    Engineer/Lead, Technical Producer

    • Fairy Finder

  • Description:
    AR game built as contract work for Niantic to showcase their Lightship SDK/API.

  • Role:
    Engineer/Lead, Technical Producer

    • Waxheart
    Waxheart Splash Image

    An indie game project where I wear multiple hats as both engineer and technical producer.
    Owning the client and engine side — handling engine upgrades and building custom debug tools for performance monitoring and QA testing.
    Built a custom Discord bot integrated with Jenkins to streamline the team's build pipeline.
    Helped form and lead the QA team — establishing RC test cycles, writing test case master sheets, and owning all QA documentation.
    Handling production and leadership meetings, agile sprint planning, roadmap planning, and task management via Trello.

    Check out the game!
    Jenkins Build Pipeline
    Waxheart Jenkins build pipeline
    Discord Bot — Build Instructions
    Waxheart Discord bot build instructions
    Discord Bot — Error Reporting
    Waxheart Jenkins Discord bot error reporting
    QA Test Case Master Sheet
    Waxheart QA test case master sheet
    aschau.github.io

    What started as a college assignment in 2016 has become my longest-running personal project. This portfolio website has evolved alongside my career — from a basic student page built for a UCI informatics course, to the interactive, game-inspired experience you're browsing right now.

    It's a project I keep coming back to, constantly improving and rebuilding as I learn new things and grow as a developer. Every version reflects where I was at that point in my career, and the current iteration is the most ambitious yet.

    2016
    The Origin — UCI

    This site began as a project for an informatics course at UC Irvine. The assignment required user research, competitor analysis, feature prioritization, and user testing — the full UX process. I interviewed classmates, analyzed other portfolios, and iterated on the design based on real feedback.

    The original version was simple — static HTML/CSS with a space-themed background. But going through that UX process taught me how much thought goes into even a personal website. That foundation stuck with me.

    View Original Research
    2017 — 2025
    Evolution Through My Career

    As I moved through the game industry — from Trigger to Sega/Atlus to MobilityWare and now Blizzard — the site grew with me. New projects meant new pages. New skills meant new ways to present them. Every major career milestone was an excuse to revisit and improve the portfolio.

    The site has always been plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no frameworks, no build tools, no dependencies. That simplicity is intentional. It keeps the focus on the content and makes it easy to jump in and iterate quickly. GitHub Pages handles hosting, and I can push changes and see them live immediately.

    2026
    The Current Version

    The latest overhaul is the most ambitious the site has ever been. It draws from my game development background with features like:

    • A dark glassmorphism design system with semi-transparent cards and backdrop blur
    • An interactive career timeline with an animated sprite character that walks between entries
    • Floating game-themed particles (cards, diamonds, D-pad crosses) replacing the old starfield
    • A gamification layer — achievements, an exploration progress bar, and click burst effects
    • A game-style loading screen with rotating tips
    • A custom 404 page where the sprite character looks around confused

    It's a portfolio that feels like a game — because that's the industry I work in and the kind of experience I want to create.

    Now & Beyond
    AI-Powered Development

    The current version of this site was built with the help of AI — specifically Claude. Using Claude Code as a development tool has made it possible to move faster, iterate more ambitiously, and ship features that would have taken significantly longer to build solo.

    From the achievement system to the sprite animation logic to the responsive timeline, AI helped accelerate the development without replacing the creative direction. I drive the vision and design decisions; AI helps me execute on them efficiently. It's a workflow multiplier — the ideas are still mine, but the time from idea to implementation has shrunk dramatically.

    This site is a showcase of that philosophy: AI is a tool, and knowing how to use it effectively is a skill in itself.