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ABOUT

CONTACT

Designing the Episode Pass

Designing the Episode Pass

Building a scalable seasonal progression system

ROLE:

Co-led the design of the Episode Pass system, focusing on UX flow, progression logic, reward structure, and cross-feature alignment with Quests and Daily Tasks.

TEAM:

4 Engineers

1 Game Designer

1 Project Managers

2 Artists

1 UX Director

1 Audio Designer

DATE:

Dec 2024

Designing the Episode Pass

Building a scalable seasonal progression system

ROLE:

Co-led the design of the Episode Pass system, focusing on UX flow, progression logic, reward structure, and cross-feature alignment with Quests and Daily Tasks.

TEAM:

4 Engineers

1 Game Designer

1 Project Managers

2 Artists

1 UX Director

1 Audio Designer

DATE:

Dec 2024

The

OVERVIEW

The

OVERVIEW

The

OVERVIEW

Galaxy of Heroes had years of content, but rewards were spread across quests, daily tasks, and episodic events with no shared structure. Players couldn’t see how their moment-to-moment actions connected to meaningful progress, and the studio lacked a stable framework to support predictable seasonal releases.

The Episode Pass introduced the first unified progression system in the game. I led the UX flow, reward logic, and track structure, working closely with the designer responsible for Quests to ensure both features felt cohesive. Together, we aligned navigation, terminology, and UI patterns into one connected seasonal experience.

Galaxy of Heroes had years of content, but rewards were spread across quests, daily tasks, and episodic events with no shared structure. Players couldn’t see how their moment-to-moment actions connected to meaningful progress, and the studio lacked a stable framework to support predictable seasonal releases.

The Episode Pass introduced the first unified progression system in the game. I led the UX flow, reward logic, and track structure, working closely with the designer responsible for Quests to ensure both features felt cohesive. Together, we aligned navigation, terminology, and UI patterns into one connected seasonal experience.

The

CHALLENGE

The

CHALLENGE

The

CHALLENGE

Galaxy of Heroes had decent daily engagement, but rewards were fragmented across tasks, quests, and episodic events, each living on separate screens with different rules and patterns. Progress was measurable in isolation, but players had no single place to understand where they were in a season, what their effort was contributing toward, or what came next.

For Live Ops, this fragmentation made long-term planning difficult. Without a unified seasonal cadence, it was harder to align daily content, schedule releases, and forecast monetization. The game needed a single progression framework that could connect moment-to-moment play to long-term seasonal goals.

Galaxy of Heroes had decent daily engagement, but rewards were fragmented across tasks, quests, and episodic events, each living on separate screens with different rules and patterns. Progress was measurable in isolation, but players had no single place to understand where they were in a season, what their effort was contributing toward, or what came next.

For Live Ops, this fragmentation made long-term planning difficult. Without a unified seasonal cadence, it was harder to align daily content, schedule releases, and forecast monetization. The game needed a single progression framework that could connect moment-to-moment play to long-term seasonal goals.

Old UI

The

OBJECTIVE

The

OBJECTIVE

The

OBJECTIVE

Design a cohesive seasonal system that connects daily play to long-term episodic rewards. The goal was to make progression easy to understand, reduce friction across quests and tasks, and give players a clear, motivating loop they could rely on every season.

PLAYERS

Give players a simple, intuitive track that shows where they are in the season, what they’ve earned, and what comes next.

BUSINESS

Establish a reliable monthly cadence that supports content planning, engagement beats, and monetization opportunities.

UX

Design a smooth loop of play, progress, and reward with consistent feedback and no friction between systems.

The

PROCESS

The

PROCESS

The

PROCESS

Audience & Player Insights:

Galaxy of Heroes players are long-term strategists who log in daily to optimize teams, claim rewards, and pursue limited-time objectives. Their behavior depends on visible, incremental progress, yet existing systems fragmented that feedback across screens.

This insight shaped the foundation of Episode Pass. Players needed a single place where daily effort felt cumulative and clearly connected to seasonal progression.

Define:

Define:

Player Actions

As part of my standard process, I break down player goals into every possible action a player can take within a system. Rewards are one example of this approach. I mapped how players interacted with rewards across quests, daily tasks, and episodic content, including both expected behaviors and edge cases.

This surfaced gaps in feedback and progression logic that the Episode Pass needed to resolve. Defining actions at this level ensured the system stayed predictable, readable, and flexible no matter how players moved through it.

Ideate:

Ideate:

Player Paths

I mapped end-to-end player paths through Episode Pass, from claiming rewards and previewing locked tiers to upgrading into the premium track. These flows defined how each state should behave, where transitions needed to feel automatic, and where additional cues were required to reinforce progress.

They also clarified how quests fed into Episode Pass, ensuring both systems worked together as a single, connected seasonal loop.

Information Architecture

Episode Pass was designed alongside the new Quest system, owned by another UX designer. We collaborated closely to align structure, terminology, and navigation so both features operated as a single, cohesive seasonal system.

This IA map became our shared source of truth. It defined how players moved between Quests, Daily Tasks, and Episode Pass, and demonstrated how the Galaxy of Heroes global sidebar system supported consistent navigation throughout the experience. The map also captured early explorations of the Starter Pass, which later evolved into the Free Pass track.

Cross-Team Collaboration

I partnered with the Art Lead to create a shared Photoshop template for Episode Pass purchase screens. Using smart objects, the template allowed rapid swapping of character art while preserving a consistent layout across mobile, tablet, and PC.

This approach reduced visual drift, accelerated iteration, and ensured clean handoffs between UX, art, and engineering. It also gave Live Ops a scalable system that could support new characters without redesigning the purchase experience each season.

Design:

Design:

Wireframes

I designed a complete set of high-fidelity wireframes that captured the full Episode Pass journey, from first entry through purchase and reward claiming. Each screen was built to prioritize clarity and momentum, ensuring players always understood their current state and next action.

These wireframes became the foundation for engineering implementation and cross-team reviews, aligning UX, art, and Live Ops around a shared, scalable seasonal framework.

The

SOLUTION

The

SOLUTION

The

SOLUTION

The Episode Pass unified seasonal progression into a single, predictable system. Daily play, quests, rewards, and monetization now live inside one cohesive loop instead of competing across separate screens.

Free and Premium tracks share the same structure, making progression easy to understand and upgrades feel natural. Players always know where they are, what they’ve earned, and what comes next.

Clarity and Progression Visibility

Free and Premium reward paths run in parallel, using identical layouts and states. This removes guesswork and makes the value of upgrading immediately clear without forcing players to relearn the system.

Motivating Pacing and Feedback

Progress is delivered in steady, readable beats. Clear claim states, milestone moments, and repeatable endpoints reinforce momentum and keep players moving forward whether they play briefly or invest deeply.

Transparent Upgrade Path

The purchase experience presents Episode Pass options side by side, allowing players to quickly compare value. Premium and Premium+ upgrades clearly communicate immediate rewards and milestone skips, supporting confident purchase decisions.

Shared System, Shared Language

Core components like the side navigation, progress bar, reward and modules are reused across Episode Pass and Quests. This consistency reduces cognitive load and reinforces the seasonal loop as one connected experience.

The

RESULTS

The

RESULTS

The

RESULTS

Each Episode launch produced a clear conversion spike, beginning with the initial release in December 2024. Conversion consistently peaked around seven percent at launch before returning to baseline between Episodes.

This pattern confirmed a key insight: players upgrade in response to new content drops, not through slow accumulation. Strong launch visibility, clear reward framing, and predictable seasonal beats became the primary drivers of Episode Pass performance.

The Episode Pass gave Live Ops a repeatable conversion moment each month and players a clear reason to engage at the start of every season.

Episode Pass Conversion Dec ‘24 - June ‘25

The

UPDATES

The

UPDATES

The

UPDATES

Players frequently encountered credit cap warnings after attempting to claim rewards. The issue wasn’t messaging. It was timing.

By moving the Episode Credit Bank into the header, players could see their limits before claiming. This small change removed confusion and made the reward loop feel deliberate instead of punitive.

Initial Experience

Refined Experience

The

TAKEAWAY

The

TAKEAWAY

The

TAKEAWAY

Building the Episode Pass proved the value of a fully connected system. By aligning quests, daily actions, and seasonal rewards into a single loop, progression became clearer, more motivating, and easier to sustain over time.

For the studio, it established a repeatable seasonal framework that improved cross-team alignment, supported Live Ops planning, and scaled cleanly as new Episodes shipped.