PLAYHEART GAMES is a Leipzig-based game and level design agency and indie development studio founded by passionate gamer and game maker ENRICO SCHMIDT.

Rico is a highly experienced Mobile F2P, Casual and Puzzle expert with MORE THAN 12 YEARS in game and level design across diverse genres, including Puzzle, Match-3, Arcade, Hyper-Casual, Solitaire, Bubble Shooter, Hidden Object, Word, Idle, RTS, and Tower Defense.
His portfolio spans more than 30 games and collaborations with over 20 companies, such as Wooga, Huuuge Games, Nordlight Games, Popcore, DGN Games, Mobile Game Doctor, Mighty Kingdom, Ten Square Games, etermax, and Eastside Games.

Specializing in Casual and Puzzle (with extensive experience in Match 3), Rico brings deep expertise in creating engaging content, features, and LiveOps, along with level design, difficulty balancing, economy design, and maximizing monetization through data-driven rebalancing and KPI-targeted optimizations.

As Lead Designer on RUBIK’S MATCH 3 – CUBE PUZZLE at Nordlight Games, Rico guided the game’s vision from concept through live operations, creating levels and overseeing meta, feature, LiveOps, and economy design.

In his role as Lead Designer for Wooga’s hit JELLY SPLASH, Rico optimized and led the design team, developed a robust content pipeline, and created over 2000 levels along with numerous gameplay elements.

Through his company, PlayHeart Games, Rico founded both a freelance design agency and an indie studio to develop unique, meaningful gameplay experiences. A lifelong gamer, he is passionate about all game genres and actively tracks industry trends to anticipate the future of gaming.

Please check Rico’s work experience, former collaborations and projects on his LINKEDIN PROFILE.