Hi, I’m Lauri Konttori.
I am a creative professional with over 20 years of experience in the games and animation industry, having worked in the field since 2003. Throughout my career, I have written dozens of advertisements, designed mobile games, and created characters, worlds, and stories for both games and animation. For me, this work has always been one continuous adventure across storytelling, design, and digital entertainment. I am currently based in Helsinki, Finland.
Core Expertise
Story, world, and character creation for entertainment IPs.
I specialize in bringing intellectual properties to life through strong visual direction and engaging storytelling. I craft believable, globally resonant story worlds, most notably for Angry Birds, where I led the character and world-building writing team. This work was instrumental in supporting Angry Birds’ successful expansion from a game franchise into a broad, multi-category entertainment brand.
Game Design & Team Lead
As a game designer and team lead, I am known for my strong commitment to quality and for leading teams in an inspiring and focused way under pressure. I efficiently develop original game concepts and have extensive experience pitching to publishers and teams. I aim to build distinctive “wow” moments that stand out in today’s competitive industry. My core strength is identifying qualitative issues within a game product, including mechanics, indications, responsiveness, and balance.
Creative Pipelines & Production Efficiency
I specialize in building and refining production pipelines that help teams move forward with clarity, align around the right goals, and significantly improve cost-efficiency without sacrificing creative quality.
Team Leadership & Creative Collaboration
As a team lead, I focus on building inclusive, high-functioning teams where diverse personalities and skill sets work effectively together. I create environments where everyone feels valued, engaged, and confident that their contribution meaningfully impacts the project.
Work CV & Game Portfolio
Funtagonist Oy
CCO, Director, Founder | 2021–
Together with Jukka Peltola, I co-founded Funtagonist, an animation production company focused on creating short-form animated content for social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Our goal is to create higher-quality episodic content while deeply understanding the target audience through continuous data tracking and iteration.
Key Responsibilities:
Storywriting, Directing, Sound Design, Character Design
Lightneer Oy
CCO – Hypercasual Games Unit | 2018–2020
In early 2018, together with CEO Mark Cochrane, we pivoted Lightneer’s game business entirely toward hypercasual games. My primary responsibility was game concept design and building scalable design pipelines to support rapid ideation and production.
Lightneer operated both as a self-publishing studio and as a development partner for publishers such as Voodoo and Supersonic.
Key Responsibilities:
Company-wide Game Design Pipeline, Lead Game Concept Creator, Team Lead
CCO – Educational Games Unit | 2015–2018
I was a co-founder and Creative Director at Lightneer’s educational games unit, where we developed Big Bang Legends, a particle physics learning game.
Key Responsibilities: Designing the game world and brand to be suitable for elementary school audiences. I also served as the lead graphic artist and art team lead, managing a team of two animators and artists.
Cool Surf Club Oy
Founder, Designer | 2015–2016
We founded Cool Surf Club to develop CatMania, an iOS and Android application for animated greeting cards, created in collaboration with Pokémon product designer Noriko Takahashi.
Key Responsibilities: App Design, Team Lead
Rovio Entertainment
Creative Director | 2011–2015
Animation Department
After Rovio acquired our company, Kombo, we established Rovio’s animation studio, which began producing the Angry Birds Toons series. My role was to co-create the series bible (with Mikael Hed and Mikko Pöllä) and direct the pilot episode.
Design Team
I led the team responsible for creating the backstory of the Angry Birds universe, including character personalities and detailed environment design for Piggy Island. This work supported consistency across games, animation, books, and film.
LVL11 Prototyping Unit
Together with Niklas Hed, I co-founded Rovio’s internal new IP and rapid game prototyping unit. We built an efficient pipeline for fast prototyping and evaluating dozens of concepts. Several projects progressed to production and release, including:
Shakira Love Rocks, Retry, Cuppy (animation), AB Bubble Shooter, Battle Bay.
Love Rocks starring Shakira
I worked as a Game Designer and Team Lead on Rovio’s match game co-created with Shakira.
Kombo Oy
Founder, Creative Director | 2007–2011
I co-founded a video production company that grew to a team of 20 within four years. We produced over 50 TV commercials for the Finnish market and became known for high-quality game trailers, working with clients such as RedLynx, Remedy, and Rovio.
Key Responsibilities:
Storyboarding, Visual Design, Commercial & Trailer Directing
Relude Oy & Rovio Mobile
Game Designer | 2003–2007
Worked as a full-time game designer during the era often referred to as “Rovio before Angry Birds,” contributing to approximately 50 mobile games. I created several cult-classic mobile games that still have dedicated fans today, including the Darkest Fear trilogy and Paid To Kill. My final project during this period was Bounce Boing Voyage, widely regarded as the first full-scale 3D adventure game on mobile platforms.
Game Portfolio
Rocket Bow League – Heroic (2024)
Character Art
Hyper Casual Games - Lightneer (2018 - 2021)
Torch Flip
Game Concept
Wreck Them All
Game Concept
Mini Golf Jump
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Tapper Master
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Tower Hoops
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Stomp Kicks
Game Concept
Magnet Grap
Game Concept
Cube Trials
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Cube Race
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Flick Frisbee
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Rise Stack
Game Concept
Penny Jump
Game Concept
Switch Puzzle
Game Design, Team Lead
Gold Cut
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Draw Dash
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Mad Timber
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Snake Light
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Neon Pops
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Hammer Jump
Game Concept
Block Shot
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Pole Sprint
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Slime Up
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Small Movers
Game Concept
Cannon Wonderland
Game Concept
Rock Tower
Game Concept
Stack Road
Game Concept
Switch Heroes
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Roller Skate
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Bendy Bug
Game Concept
Push Da Rock
Game Concept
Mirage Balls
Game Concept
Bendy Sports
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Trick Tower
Game Concept
Forklift City
Game Concept
Ninja Sports
Game Concept
HyperBowling 2
Game Concept
Parachute Tap
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead, Art
Link The Same
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Tap When Same
Game Concept, Game Design, Team Lead
Big Bang Legends - Lightneer (2016)
Game Art, Character Design for main characters, Story
CatMania - Cool Surf Club (2016)
Designer, Team Lead
Shakira Love Rocks - Rovio (2015)
Game Design, Team Lead
Angry Birds Transformers - Rovio (2014)
Design Consulting
Angry Birds Go! - Rovio (2013)
Design Consulting
Angry Birds Star Wars - Rovio (2012)
Co-Character Design, BackStory
Angry Birds Space - Rovio (2012)
Character Design, Story
Amazing Alex - Rovio (2012)
Story
1000 Heroz - Red Lynx (2011)
Nokia Hip Hop Tour - Nokia (2010)
Original Concept, Game Design
Tohtori Pöllö Peliakatemia – Casual Continent Oy (2010)
Story, Game Design, Character Design
Boing Voyage – Nokia (2009)
Story, Game Design, Character Design
Bounce Evolution - Nokia (2008)
Game Design Document
Totomi - Rovio (2008)
Original Concept, Animation, Game Art
Patron Angel - Rovio (2006)
Story, Game Design, Level Design
Dragon and Jade - Rovio (2006)
Level Design
Darkest Fear 3: Nightmare - Rovio (2006)
Story, Game Design, Level Design
Darkest Fear 2: Grim Oak - Rovio (2006)
Story, Game Design, Level Design
Paid To Kill - Rovio (2005)
Story, Game Design, Level Design, Character Design
Darkest Fear - Rovio (2005)
Story, Game Design, Level Design
Brutal vs. Brutal - Rovio (2005)
Game Design, Character Design
Mole War - Sumea (2004)
Graphic Design
Sumea Skijump - Sumea (2004)
Co-Game Design, Character Design
Annelin Kiirastuli - Relude (2003)
Game Art
King of the Cabbage World - Relude (2003)
Game Art