Meet the Team: Andrew Shvarts
Welcome to our Meet the Team blog series where we highlight different members of Candlelight Games. This week, we’re spotlighting our Head of Design, Andrew Shvarts!
Andrew is the Head of Design at Candlelight. He started his career on the Centerscore team at Electronic Arts, writing for Surviving High School and Cause of Death. He was a founding member of Pixelberry Studios in 2012 and worked there until March 2024, serving as Lead Designer on High School Story and Choices: Stories You Play, and as a Creative Director on Storyloom. He was also the Lead Writer on many Choices books, including Bloodbound and Blades of Light and Shadow.
First up, what do you do at Candlelight Games?
As the Head of Design, my main responsibility is developing the gameplay vision of our games: the systems, the mechanics, the intersections of storytelling, art, and interactivity. Which sounds like my job is being the Super Fun Ideas Guy, which okay, it occasionally is! But mostly, it’s all about communicating with narrative and art and dev and production, and helping to shape everyone’s contributions together into one amazing whole.
What made you want to co-found Candlelight?
I’ve been very lucky my whole career to work on teams that valued story and heart above all else, which let me contribute to amazing games that have resonated with so many people. Co-founding Candlelight is my way of continuing that legacy, and bringing more dark, sexy, and magical stories to new audiences and platforms.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
There’s a moment when you’ve just shipped a game and the players haven’t had a chance to respond yet, and you’re sitting, waiting, refreshing, just hanging in anticipation to see what they think… and then all at once, the responses come in a flood, and you get to see what made them laugh, and what made them cry, and what made them howl in fury or excitement. That moment, when the world finally gets to see what you’ve been working on… there’s nothing like it.
What are you most excited about in our upcoming game?
As a fantasy writer, I love when magic is wild and frightening and unpredictable, a terrifying force that can shape the world into staggering beauty or unfathomable horror, something we should absolutely not be messing with… but we can’t resist. I’m working on something right now that plays into that, and I cannot wait to share it with everyone.
What video game is the biggest influence on you personally?
If you want my biggest influence of all time, it’s got to be Final Fantasy 7, the first RPG I ever played. I was in 7th grade and I had no idea a game could tell a story that grand in a world that vast with such memorable characters and cinematic storytelling. That was the moment I knew I needed to be a game writer. Also it introduced me to the concept Evil Sexy Anime Dude With Giant Sword which permanently occupies a solid 25% of my brain.
What was your dream job as a kid?
I’m doing it :)
Andrew dressed as Mal Volari from Blades of Light and Shadow 1
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Andrew! We can’t wait to see what you’ve got cooking.