About Me
I like working on the rules players feel in a fight. In Dungeon Wipe, I gave the Mage an attack that bypasses the shield, so players have a reason to switch to the crossbow when they can’t close the distance.
I finished my Computer Science & Engineering degree in 2024 and I’m completing an MSc in Game Design and Playable Media. Dungeon Wipe became the basis of my first-author ICEC paper. For my thesis, I’m checking whether champion changes in League of Legends did what Riot said they would.
When I taught ICT, I’d check what students understood and try another example if it didn’t land. I do something similar in playtests. Players couldn’t tell where the Mage’s attack came from, so I changed its range and health and added clearer attack effects and sound.
Available now. Portuguese national with EU work eligibility, open to relocation or remote.
Skills and tools
My work spans gameplay, technical design, software engineering and game-balance research.
Technical Game Design
Rules, tuning and iteration through prototypes, player feedback and research.
See a playtest iterationTools & Delivery
Level authoring, validation and builds for desktop, browser and Android.
See my level editorAdditional Engineering
Web application work, APIs and relational data in academic team projects.
See my work on LusoHealthWeb & UI Engineering
Angular application work and the React implementation of this portfolio.
See my web workResearch & Data
Python and SQL for acquisition, cleaning and descriptive analysis. Java and R are part of my academic background.
Read my thesis summaryVisual Tools & Integration
Practical UI, animation and asset integration alongside gameplay programming.
Qualifications and experience
Education and experience
Master’s in Game Design and Playable Media (Design de Jogos e Média Jogáveis)
Universidade LusófonaDo Riot Games’ stated design intentions align with observed champion outcomes? A champion-level evaluation of balance design across rank, role, and match phase. MSc in progress.
BSc in Computer Science & Engineering (Licenciatura em Engenharia Informática), Software Engineering track
Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal · Escola Superior de Tecnologia de SetúbalFinal grade 15/20. Class B on the European Grade Comparability Scale.
Relevant coursework
- Algorithms & Abstract Data Types (16/20)
- Parallel & Distributed Computing (17/20)
- Databases
- Operating Systems
- Applied Software Engineering
- Information Security
- Artificial Intelligence
ICT Teacher
Agrupamento de Escolas Fernando NamoraI taught ICT to 21 classes across four year groups, approximately 525 students. I adapted explanations through knowledge checks, taught topics including 3D modelling and web publishing, and helped students and staff troubleshoot hardware, software and digital tools.
Languages
Portuguese, native
English, professional working proficiency
French and Spanish, basic
Credentials and short courses
Cambridge English B2 First
Cambridge English Level 1 Certificate in ESOL International (First). Grade B, overall score 177, CEFR B2. Certificate issued 1 August 2019.
Digital Skills: User Experience
Three-week short course completed with a 92% overall score. Not a formal qualification.
View certificate (opens in a new tab)Prince of Persia prototype assessment
A signed academic assessment records 162 hours of work and a 5/5 result for my mechanics-recreation prototype. The assessment recognised autonomy and problem-solving.
What I’m looking for
I’m looking for a junior gameplay programming or technical game design role. I like building a mechanic, watching someone play it and then changing the part that got in their way. I’d like to keep working on combat, progression and tools that make those changes easy to try.
Competitive Play & Game Experience
I peaked at Master 235 LP in League of Legends as a Jungle main and played as Varona Esports’ starting Jungler in the LPLOL Second Division, contributing to draft preparation, VOD review, early-game planning and shotcalling.
Playing Jungle means reading the map, planning routes, trading objectives and deciding which win condition to play around.
- Counter-Strike
- Global Elite
- VALORANT
- Ascendant 3
These are historical peaks, not current ranks. Draft preparation, VOD review and team shotcalling are the parts of competitive play most relevant to how I analyse games.
Research
Dungeon Wipe: Exploring Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment with Power-Up Mechanics
The paper frames adaptive healing through anxiety, empowerment and expected health. The game uses explicit health thresholds to select potion support. Enemy count, damage and behaviour stay unchanged.
A separate Monte Carlo simulation used 5 levels at 1,000 runs each. Modelled failure was 40% with uniform distribution, 56% with random distribution and 8% with adaptive support. In a convenience sample of 38 computer-science students, 83% did not perceive the adaptation. This measures detectability in that sample, not enjoyment or player success.
Read publication (opens in a new tab)Do Riot Games’ stated design intentions align with observed champion outcomes?
I read what Riot wanted to change, then looked for that change in the match data. For Diana’s jungle clear, I compared neutral monsters killed at 10 and 30 minutes. The October manuscript compares patches 25.20 and 25.21 using 2,885 observations across twelve champions in 2,486 matches.
Six of the twelve changes met my criteria for matching Riot’s stated intention. One met them in part and five missed. That describes what I found in the retained matches across these two patches.
Relevant undergraduate study: Statistical Methods, Numerical Analysis, Databases, and Algorithms & Abstract Data Types.
Academic quantitative work included R, alongside Python and SQL.
Read analysisLanguages and location
- Location
- Portugal
- Languages
- Portuguese, nativeEnglish, professional working proficiencyFrench and Spanish, basic
- [email protected]
- Focus
- Gameplay systems, AI and navigation, level tools, progression and game balance.