Santhosh Ratnam
Santhosh Ratnam
Santhosh Ratnam
Game Designer / Level Designer
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About

The story behind the work

How I got into game design, what I focus on now, and the kind of work I want to keep making.

Santhosh Ratnam
Santhosh Ratnam
Santhosh Ratnam

A bit about me

I'm a Game & Level Designer specializing in fast-paced action games and competitive arena design. With 3+ years of experience, I've designed 15+ levels and shipped a commercial game on Steam.

What I specialize in

  • Arena & combat design: balanced, competitive multiplayer spaces
  • Fast-paced action: high-speed gameplay tuned for player skill expression
  • Level flow & architecture: readable layouts that guide player movement
  • Systems & tool design: in-engine tools that speed up level and gameplay work

Experience

  1. Gamification & Systems Designer · Certified Listeners Society (CLS), Canada Apr 2026 – Present

    Designing the progression and gamification systems for a web + mobile platform, streaks, leaderboards, milestone unlocks, and reward loops tuned to lift engagement and return-rate.

  2. Game Designer · Highavenue Creative Labs (Target Force) Dec 2025 – Mar 2026

    Designed NPC combat systems (AI behaviour, spawns, difficulty scaling) and authored encounter & balance documentation for a 30-player mobile PvPvE battle royale in Unreal Engine 5.

  3. Level Designer / Technical Designer · Avian Hearts: Mechanical Fury Nov 2023 – Nov 2025

    Movement shooter shipped on Steam (team of 6). Designed 12 combat arenas and 20+ enemy encounters from blockout to first playable, and built procedural tools that cut blockout time ~40%.

  4. Underground Level Designer · IMU Studios (Freelance) Mar 2023 – Jul 2023

    Whiteboxed underground combat spaces, tunnels, caverns, vertical shafts, and enclosed arenas, focused on player flow, sightlines, and choke-point control.

Skills & tools

Unreal Engine
Visual Scripting
VFX
UI/UX
Prototyping
Unity
Blueprints
Shader Graph
HLSL
Technical Design
Level Design
Arena Design

Awards & recognition

British Columbia Game Jam
2022
1st Place
Best Final Project Award
2022
Winner
Best Narrative Designer
2022
Winner