KRISTINA GU

Technical Designer

Technical game designer with 4+ years of experience in building gameplay systems and interactions, from pitch to prototype to polish, and a background in computer science and engineering. I bring a strong technical sensibility and an eye for player experience to the table, with a proven ability to quickly and efficiently stand up both complex systems and bespoke interactions from scratch, as well as identify creative approaches to abstract problems. I’m passionate about people and I seek to bring a sense of curiosity and empathy for others’ stories to both the games I make and the process through which I make them.

Check out some of the stuff I’ve worked on below!

Unannounced
Jedi Project

Narrative Technical Designer /
Technical Designer

(2024-2025)

Level scripting, cinematic gameplay sequences, gameplay systems, debug and designer tools

Intergalactic:
The Heretic Prophet

Associate Technical Designer

(2023-2024)

Player progression systems

The Last of Us Part II Remastered

Associate Technical Designer

(2023)

Accessibility, metagame, gameplay systems, level scripting

The Last of Us Online

Associate Technical Designer

(2022-2023)

Metagame systems, player comms

ACADEMIC PROJECTS

  • Desolation (Fall 2019)

    Project Lead / Designer

    Led a 3-person team to create a short, original VR experience in three weeks using Unreal Engine 4.

    More Details →

  • Final Fantasy MMMCX (Fall 2019)

    Programmer

    Worked in a 3-person team to recreate the original Final Fantasy's combat system in the console using OCaml. Final project for CS 3110: Data Structures and Functional Programming.

    Visit Github →

  • Hirshbot (Spring 2020)

    Designer / Programmer

    Developed a simple game in Unreal Engine 4 inspired by QWOP for our Genetic QWOP AI project. I built the game, and then worked in a 3-person team to develop a genetic algorithm that would maximize game performance.

    More Details →

  • "Identifying the Optimal Edge Enhancement Technique for Application with Stylized Media" (Spring 2020)

    Independent Research

    Conducted research on edge enhancement techniques under the supervision of Professor Donald P. Greenberg in the Department of Computer Graphics at Cornell University, concluding in a final report documenting our findings.

    Read Report →

  • free him (Spring 2021)

    Project Lead / Programmer / Designer

    Led a 6-person team to develop a game in a semester using LibGDX for Java.

    More Details →