Components

Hello, I am

Blake Burns

Founder, Design Director, COO, Advisor, and Mentor

Who am I ?

Founder of BlankMediaGames (Town of Salem) & ex-Design Director of Ludeon Studios (RimWorld)

At BlankMediaGames, I spearheaded the development and design of our flagship product Town of Salem. Under my leadership, BlankMediaGames evolved from a small indie studio into a significant player in the gaming industry, expanding our staff from two to over 20. Town of Salem boasts over 20 million registered players and our sequel, Town of Salem 2 reached the top 3 social deduction games on Steam. As of July 2024, my co-founder and I successfully sold the assets/games to another party.

Design Director for RimWorld: Odyssey which on release sold over 250k copies in it's first week with a 86% user rating and over 100k CCU on Steam

Personal Info

My Expertise

Game Design & Mechanics

Expert in creating and refining core game mechanics, balancing gameplay, and designing engaging, player-focused experiences.

Production

Created and managed timelines for Engineering, Art, Design, and Marketing teams to ensure high standards across different departments while meeting our goals.

Team Leadership & Management

Strong leadership and project management skills, with extensive experience guiding design teams from concept to completion proven by shipping 6 games as a leader.

6

Projects Launched

20MM+

Registered Players

20

People Managed

1

Successful Exit

I Am Available

Blake Burns - Portfolio

Choose a specialty to filter:
All System/Mechanics Design UI/UX Design Level Design
BlankMediaGames Logo
Founded BlankMediaGames

Co-Founded BlankMediaGames with Josh Brittain in 2014. BMG released 5 games and ran profitably for 10 years. As of July 2024, my co-founder and I successfully sold the assets/games to another party.

Trailer for Town of Salem 2

Trailer for Town of Salem 1 - The Coven

Pirate101
RimWorld: Odyssey

Systems design for RimWorld: Odyssey

Town of Salem 2 UI
PC UI/UX - Town of Salem 2

Wireframed the UI/UX for Town of Salem 2, creating the game UI, shop UI, and all other screens. Worked with Art Director to create final version of UIs and made tweaks/suggestions. Used tester and player feedback to improve UX.

Download free bootstrap 4 admin dashboard, free boootstrap 4 templates
Role Design

Created 53 unique roles for Town of Salem 1 which each had their own attributes and abilities. Then, I created 27 roles for Traitors in Salem. And another 57 roles for Town of Salem 2.

Cauldron System
Cauldron System

Designed the Cauldron system. This system is a daily reward/rention system and monetization rolled into one. A player can add an ingredient to the brew for free every day. After 7 ingredients, they are rewarded with a random reward. Players may purchase upgrades to the cauldron to have it complete faster, give certain rewards, or increase their chances at exclusive legendary items. They can also purchase a potion of speed to instantly complete their Cauldron as many times as they would like.

Mobile UI Town of Salem 1
Mobile UI/UX - Town of Salem 1

Designed the UI redesign for Town of Salem 1 when going from PC to Mobile.

Download free bootstrap 4 admin dashboard, free boootstrap 4 templates
The Savior of Salem

Designed and developed a card game to give the feeling of a mob of town members fighting back the monsters that try to destroy the town.

Town of Salem The Card Game
Town of Salem - The Card Game

Designed and developed Town of Salem - The Card Game. Created the rule book, manual, and roles inspired by our digital game.

Tratiors in Salem World
World - Traitors in Salem

Created the world of Traitors in Salem. Meticulously placed objects, barriers, line of sight blockers, and more into the world.

Town of Salem 2 Level
Level Layout - Town of Salem 2

Created the level and maps that players can play. Played houses, items, buildings, etc taking care to consider camera angles. Added animations to various pieces of the world.

Wizard101
Wizard101

Worked with Senior designers to ensure that Wizard101 gameplay systems were aligned with the overall vision.

Pirate101
Pirate101

Developed the MMO Pirate101's combat mechanics, player abilities, and interactive world-building elements.