What We Do

Hidden Current Studios helps game teams turn complex systems into experiences players can understand, enjoy, and master.

Founded by John Jones, a Senior / Lead Game UX Designer with 20+ years of experience across AAA games, mobile strategy, live-service products, e-commerce, fintech, and large-scale digital platforms, Hidden Current specializes in the parts of games where clarity matters most: onboarding, gameplay UX, player learning, progression, menus, systems comprehension, and long-term engagement.

If you are building a prototype, preparing for a vertical slice, improving a soft-launch build, or trying to understand why players are getting lost, Hidden Current can help diagnose the friction and design a clearer path forward.

Experience Behind the Work

I've designed at-scale experiences for Electronic Arts, Amazon, Capital One, Discovery, and other major digital products.

Most recently, I worked on EA / Full Circle’s skate., where I focused on foundational UX systems, onboarding, first-hour gameplay, player education, Skatepedia, stats, settings, accessibility, progression, and core player flows.

I led the conception of and designed the UX for Isle of Grom, a dedicated onboarding experience that taught complex movement, timing, trick chaining, and world interaction through guided experimentation. That work contributed to a scalable player-learning framework and strong early experience outcomes, including 90%+ FTUE completion.

Before skate., I served as Lead Experience Designer on an EA mobile sci-fi 4X strategy project, leading UX direction across HUD, camera controls, onboarding, base-building, progression, store architecture, and monetization UX.

Across games, e-commerce, fintech, and digital platforms, my work centers on one consistent goal: make complex systems easier to understand, easier to enter, and deeper to master.