Maya Ziv
Developer and Security Researcher
Stanford Computer Science BS '20 - Systems
Stanford Computer Science MS '21 - Computer and Network Security
Stanford Computer Science BS '20 - Systems
Stanford Computer Science MS '21 - Computer and Network Security
Across the Universe was built to simulate space exploration for an online roleplaying experience. Campers could scan for uninhabited planets, evade monsters, and eventually fight an enemy fleet.
Cryptid Runes was a game built to simulate meditation magic for an online roleplaying experience. Campers would come to the site to complete runes and get "dream visions" which gave them more information about the world. Additionally, it supported a backend real-time voting system, showing a video corresponding to the end of the story.
The Witch's Daughter was a small grid-based game about a young girl looking to venture outside of her small, safe world. It was made in collaboration with the CalArts Gamemakers Club.
The Nodes were three large set pieces built for Event Horizon (2018), a Blockbuster Style Live-Action Roleplaying Experience (LARP). Over 90 players had to solve a series of mechanical puzzles to 'unlock' the nodes, then simulate hacking the computers housed within to gain control of the 'planetary network.'
I developed the multiplayer digital puzzles and helped design the set pieces.
Read more about my work with Event Horizon as the Director of Technology here.
Project Sesh@ is a medium length game (~30 min playtime) about artificial intelligence and oppressive regimes. I led a team of 9 to develop it as part of a video game writing class.
"In Access Denied, play out the journey of a small bot with big questions - and maybe, if you can evade all the forces in your way, make something better for yourself." Access Denied was developed in partnership with Richard Lin for a Unity Game Design class.
Snatched By The Wind is a short game about overcoming loneliness. It was on display as part of Kaleidoscope: Mental Health Coming into Focus, an art exhibit at Stanford.
Indecision is a short game about loss and grief, written for a high school creative writing class. It was my first foray into game development.
Caravan Dogs is a high-stakes live-action roleplaying experience written for 20-100 players. Participants play as members of the merchant families making up the Caravan Guild, using board game mechanics to vy for power, prestige, and economic prowess. It was run at The Wayfinder Experience during the summer of 2018 and at Big Bad Con that fall.
Second Chance at the Last Stop is a live-action rolepaying experience written for ~100 players. In it, people inhabit an afterlife space overlaying the real world and do what they can to seek closure... and stay 'alive.' It was run at The Wayfinder Experience's 2016 Advanced Camp.
This paper was written in collaboration with two other students as a final project for a security research class. We scraped and analyzed a total of 15,000 games from both itch.io and Steam and utilized VirusTotal to scan them for malware.
An interview about Event Horizon, and more generally
live-action roleplaying: its culture, its community, and its quirks.
"Video Game Association hosts first-ever game dev hackathon at Stanford"
An interview about the first game jam hosted by SVGA Dev, my recently co-founded game dev club at Stanford.
A spotlight on my Robotics experience and ambitions
in the local paper.
A look at Access Denied and, more generally, Stanford's
video game design class that produced it.
The Stories Games Tell and How They're Told
An interview about the narrative power of games and
how to design for player experience.