# Aaron Rutledge

> Game designer and systems thinker with 25 years across Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and League of Legends. Writing on design, creativity, and the tools I build.

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/)
- [About](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/about): Background, career history, and how I work
- [Music](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/music): Recordings and audio projects
- [Canon](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/canon): A running catalogue of formative media
- [Kit](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/kit): Tools and hardware I actually use
- [Curta](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/curta): Interactive explainer for the Curta mechanical calculator

## Games

- [Apex Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/apex-legends): From Launch to Season 22
- [Call of Duty: Black Ops 4](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/call-of-duty-black-ops-4): Multiplayer
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/picks-bans): Picks & Bans
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/honor-20): Honor 2.0
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/position-based-matchmaking): Position Based Matchmaking
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/new-champion-select): New Champion Select
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/hextech-crafting): Hextech Crafting
- [League of Legends](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/games/match-history): Match History

## Startups

- [YourVoice.Now](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/yourvoice-now): Co-Founder
- [OpenCritic](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/opencritic): Co-founder & Designer
- [Tweakbench](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/tweakbench): Creator
- [Valet](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/valet): Co-founder
- [Poke New York](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/poke-new-york): Co-founder & CTO
- [WineDirect](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/startups/winedirect): Co-founder & Developer/Designer

## Posts

- [AI Cover Song Workflow](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/ai-cover-song-workflow): I've been exploring Suno for AI music composition and idea generation. Here's a quick workflow I've been iterating on for making a new style cover of an…
- [25 Important Games To My Gaming Background](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/25-important-games-to-my-gaming-background): One day at Respawn we had a really interesting thread going with all the Apex Legends game designers about the collection of important games to your gaming…
- [AI Agent Creativity Buffs](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/ai-agent-creativity-buffs): 1. Bounce a written thing into a visual or bounce a visual thing into a description 2. Research the topic on youtube & substack - filter by less than 5k views…
- [Designing Through Problems](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/designing-through-problems): Often in the creative design/development space we find ourselves stuck on a problem, repeating ourselves and coming up with the same half-solutions over and…
- [Reading List](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/reading-list): Here's my running reading list, newest to oldest (partially complete, will add more over time) Re-reads are in italics - Recommendations are in bold
- [Welcome](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/posts/welcome): This is my personal collection of creative missive, AI experiments, and other random bits.

## Articles

- [My Top 10 Games of 2024](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/my-top-10-games-of-2024): Here's my picks for my favorite games that came out this year.
- [8 Things Game Design Can Fix In Our Jobs](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/8-things-game-design-can-fix-in-our-jobs): Applying game design principles to improve workplace engagement and satisfaction.
- [On Game Design & Gamification](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/on-game-design-gamification): Examining how game design principles are being applied to non-game contexts through gamification.
- [After the Brainstorm: 8 Questions to Find Winning Ideas](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/after-the-brainstorm-8-questions-to-find-winning): A framework for evaluating ideas generated during brainstorming sessions.
- [11 Tips for Better Brainstorms](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/11-tips-for-better-brainstorms): Practical brainstorming advice emphasizing environmental, organizational, and interpersonal strategies.
- [8 Essential Prototyping Tips](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/8-essential-prototyping-tips): Practical recommendations for effective prototyping during the innovation process.
- [14 Tips for Being Creative with Technology](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/14-tips-for-being-creative-with-technology): Guiding principles for cultivating creativity with technology.
- [13 Points of Simplification](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/articles/my-13-points-of-simplification): Personal productivity and lifestyle principles for streamlined living.

## Optional

- [RSS feed](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/feed.xml)
- [Sitemap](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/sitemap.xml)
- [Privacy](https://www.aaronrutledge.com/privacy): What this site collects and how to opt out