(Game) Design Is Not Art, But It Can Be
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Demo Reel
Let's Play!
Systemic Thinker
Skilled creating, testing and balancing mechanics and systems to create compelling and engaging games. Also, I have a lot of experience analyzing games and creating clear diagrams to represent different systems.
Years of experience
+5 years of experience in Game Design and related positions. I have experience leading multidisciplinary teams and mentoring designers. Also I have experience in other fields like Programming, Music, Art and narrative, which allows me to have better communication with all team members.
Iterative Mindset
I believe in a ‘playable first’ approach, and rally teams towards the game vision so we can test the design hypothesis as effective and efficiently as possible. I have a high degree of competence in iterative processes and using rapid prototypes, spreadsheets and other methods to test games in an effective and efficient manner.
Experience and Education
Lead Games Designer, Auroch Digital
January 2024 - Present
- Led a multidisciplinary team towards first playable of Mars Horizon 2.
- Alignment of goals with publisher, marketing and dev team.
- Identification of new work and documentation of new features.
- Ensuring the game vision and goals are met through constant playtest.
- Economy and Quest systems design and modelling for Mars Horizon 2.
- Mentoring and guidance of team members through presentations and 1:1.
Senior Games Designer, Auroch Digital
February 2022 - December 2023
- Data input, balance and gameplay enhancements for Brewmaster.
- Designed and modelled matchmaking for 60-players game, Stampede.
- Designed and presented ‘goodies’, controller scheme and screen flow for upcoming console port.
- Game concept and pitching of DLC for existing games and own IP games.
Leading Teams - University of Michigan/Coursera
gAME dESIGN & dEVELOPMENT - mICHIGAN State u./Coursera
Introduction to Computer Science - CS50/HardvardX (edx)
Projects
Mars Horizon 2 - Trailer
Mars Horizon 2 - Strategy/Simulation
PC (Auroch Digital / Secret Mode)
Mars Horizon 2 allows players to explore and investigate the Solar System to collect evidence of life. The players can build bases, design rockets and rovers, and plan their missions while trying to answer the ultimate question: Is There Life On Mars?
- Lead a multidisciplinary team towards completing the first playable version.
- Leader of weekly playtesting sessions in close collaboration with production
- Ensure the game vision is respected by all the features in the game.
- Expectations of implementation and polish are met and new tasks are timely identified.
- Close collaboration with coders to create quest and tutorial systems.
- Designed and modelled the game economy.
V Rising
PS5 (Stunlock Studios / Auroch Digital)
Console port of the popular PC V Rising game, an Open World, Action/RPG, Base Building, Crafting game that successfully blend genres in a Vampire setting in which players can build their own legacy either in single or multiplayer.
- Early meetings with stakeholders to identify main problem points in porting a game that requires many, many input buttons!
- Managed a team of two designers and close collaboration with UI/UX designers to propose controller schemes.
- Documentation and presentation of proposed solutions.
VRising - Gameplay Trailer
The Leftovers - Demo Reel
The Leftovers - Resource Management
Desktop (Personal Project)
“The Leftovers: A Game About Production” places the player in the position of the newly assigned head of production of a growing city. The player starts to focus on increase production, but soon the player will be aware of the unknown consequences of focusing too much of production and disregarding sustainability. Each time the player produce a resource, leftovers and pollution is added to the system. How will the player react to it?
- Designing connections between multiple buildings, resources and their leftovers.
- Balancing incremental systems using spreadsheets.
- Designed and balanced interactions with a Tech Tree, 7 buildings and resources and more.
- Documenting and organizing development using Notion, Docs, Figma and more.
- Solo-developed using Unity Engine, C# and Kenney Assets.
Case Study
Darwin's Yearbook - Puzzle Platformer
Web Desktop/Mobile
In my time at Cangrejo Ideas 
, I designed a game for the series “The Amazing World of Gumball” from Cartoon Network.
Even two years after launching it’s one of the most played games in all CN websites.
- Lead a team of two designers, setting milestones and ensuring completion.
- Designed a new documentation style successfully used for other projects.
- Created playtest system to reduce risks on first Puzzle-Platform for the company.
- Define guidelines for Level Design, so the game levels were consistent.
- Designed 2 differentiated characters and a puzzle system to support 20+ levels.
- Considered one of the funniest TAWOG games by the community.
- Featured game in CN GameBox App and websites.
- Most played game in most CN website platforms.
Other Projects
Game Design Thinking
Education and Content Creation
I’ve created a multimedia channel to share knowledge about Game Design, called Game Design Thinking. In the channel I talk about different topics in game design also drawing from related fields, like psychology, design thinking, systems thinking and more.
Also, I’ve created a course currently available on Udemy, to teach beginner game designers in an orderly manner how to start designing games and how to create more fun and meaningful games.
Having the opportunity to share my game design knowledge has allowed me to stay constantly looking for new information and techniques. Also, it has given me the chance to knew and connect with many people interested in game design and related fields. For me, it’s one of the best ways to keep up to date with new design techniques while also helping other game designers to increase their knowledge.
Documents
I create clear and compelling documents (using wiki, Google Docs or any type of software) to communicate the game idea to the team and different stakeholders.
I think that good documents must not only be succint and easy to read, but they also must be interesting to read, to enhance the communication with all the involved in the development of the game.
