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Consulting

A sounding board who knows how games get made

Strategic and practical support for studios and professionals. I work alongside you — not above you — to help your team and your work reach their potential.

Brian Bartram in conversation with a game developer during a consulting session
Areas of support

What I can help with

Engagements vary widely. Some are short and focused; others are longer and more embedded. These are the areas I work in most frequently.

Game design & development

Design review, documentation support, and hands-on input during key phases of a project. Useful when you need experienced eyes on the work itself, not just the process around it.

Team & studio practice

How your team works, communicates, and makes decisions. Process review, workflow improvement, and support for teams navigating growth, change, or difficulty.

Strategy & direction

Longer-term thinking about where a studio is headed — project selection, team structure, and the decisions that shape what you make and how you make it.

How we can work together

Engagement types

A game design document showing an in-development game system

Focused engagement

A focused review or audit

A defined piece of work with a clear output — a design review, a process audit, a team feedback session, or a written report. Good when you have a specific question or decision to make.

Typically one to four weeks. Structured around your timeline and the complexity of what you need.

Duration
1–4 weeks, defined at the outset
Output
Written report, session, or presentation
Good for
Specific questions, decisions, or problems

Brian Bartram reviewing work with a studio team member

Ongoing engagement

Sustained advisory support

A longer-term relationship — regular calls, availability for questions as they arise, and involvement in decisions over time. Works best when you want a consistent external perspective across months rather than a single intervention.

Structured as a monthly retainer. Scope and cadence agreed at the start and reviewed regularly.

Duration
Monthly retainer, minimum 3 months
Includes
Regular calls, async availability
Good for
Ongoing decisions, growth, change
The process

How it works

  1. Initial conversation

    A free 30-minute call to understand what you're dealing with and whether I'm the right person to help. No preparation needed — just come as you are.

  2. Proposal

    If there's a good fit, I'll put together a short proposal — what we'd do, how long it would take, and what it would cost. Clear and concise, no lengthy documentation.

  3. The work

    We work together in whatever way suits the engagement — calls, documents, embedded time, or a mix. I keep you informed throughout rather than disappearing and reappearing with a report at the end.

  4. Review and next steps

    At the close of an engagement we review what happened and what — if anything — comes next. Some clients return for follow-on work; others don't need to. Both are fine.

The initial call is free, informal, and without obligation. If it turns out I'm not the right fit, I'll say so — and point you towards someone who might be.

Rates are discussed during the initial conversation and depend on the scope and duration of the engagement.

Not sure if consulting is what you need?

Get in touch anyway. The first conversation will help us both figure out what would actually be useful.

Get in touch