John Bardinelli

Narrative designer, game creator, UX writer. I keep players interested and engaged from the moment they tap “play now” to the last line of text in that epic quest.

Contact: john@bardinelli.com

Xsolla

Content Strategy, UX Writing — Worked with product leads in two countries to define content creation workflows, formalize documentation, and write “opportunity cards” to streamline user experience in the dashboard and upsell to existing customers.

Goal: Educate game devs about new tools and inspire them to try them out.
Success: 14% engagement increase in the first month.

Hyperbit: MissionX

Narrative Design, UX Writing, Brand Voice — Early alpha work establishing the game’s world, UX design, and brand voice. Co-created an unobtrusive quest delivery system that drew player buzz from day one. Read more about my work on MissionX.

Goal: Deliver info, humor, and story details in a confined space.
Success: Closed alpha launch universally praised by testers.

Bitcoin Billionaire

UX Writing, Brand Voice — Defined the voice and wrote most of the in-game text and marketing copy.

Goal: Maintain user engagement with irreverent writing.
Success: Early churn rates stayed below 50%; 10 million total lifetime downloads.

leetSTART

Brand Voice, Writer — Created the original brand voice guidelines and wrote early marketing copy.

leetstart-brand-voiceDownload

Aletha Health

Brand Voice, Content Development — Built new landing pages for the successful health and wellness brand. A/B tests were launched daily and data was used to refine tone, voice, layout, and imagery.

Goal: Educate visitors and convert them to customers.
Success: +5% overall increase in landing page conversions; 3.5% CTR on emails.

Crystal Picnic

Story, Script, Dialogue — Created the story and characters for the fantasy RPG, including all dialogue and NPC interactions. Wrote a companion novel released alongside the game.

Goal: Create a lighthearted story and conversations that emphasize character relationships.
Success: Dialogue and writing mentioned by reviewers as high points of the game.

RV AppStudios

Localization Management, UX Writing — Work on 35+ mobile apps, games, and educational apps for kids. Partner with global teams to develop and refine style guides, assemble marketing/advertising materials, and edit user-facing content.

Goal: Educate players (often children) about core features using 1-3 words.
Success: 90-day retention numbers for most apps/games in the 10-20% range.

Contact: john@bardinelli.com