My Work + Collaborations
Throughout my university experience (undergrad and grad), I have worked independently and with teams on actualizing ideas we wanted to see be done! Most of my work revolves around programming as it's what I enjoy doing the most; even better if it's gaming-related!
Live Coaches
Researcher/Developer
An AI-software aiming to address the lack of high-context player assistance during video game play.
whatisbrg
Developer/Game Designer/Co-Organizer
A week-long alternate reality game for Game Developers Conference 2026, following the lore of a peculiar studio who loves productivity.
PCG for Executable Cards
Back-End Developer
A procedural content card generator + card integrator for the MiniStS framework, a simplified implementation for Slay the Spire.
MORNING GRIND
Programmer/Systems Designer
A coffee game simulation aimed to find your customer's preferences based on ingredients and expressions.
Academic major calculator
Full-Stack Developer
A program for UCSC Advisors/Students to calculate what current majors students may consider/pursue given their completed class history.
PURGATOWER
Programmer/Producer/Sound Designer
A 2D pixel dungeon crawler that mixes top-down exploration and puzzle with side scrolling combat.
FruitfUl Endeavors
TTRPG Game Designer
An investigation-based mystery TTRPG where players roleplay as "Investigators" discovering a newly grown fruit in a rural town.
SkillCraft
Back-End Developer
A Monte Carlo tree search algorithm powered AI skill tree builder for the game Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that creates a build for the player given their preferences.
Virtual Worlds
Programmer
Projects based on virtual worlds, ranging from creating N-sided cylinders and camera views to occluders.
One-Button Challenge
Programmer
A collection of one-button games where the design was to create a game using only one input.
Sea, Sand, and Shore
Programmer, Artist
A tower-defense game where you must actively maintain your sandcastle restaurant from the three subsystems: land, sea, and air.
Bread Winners
Card Game Designer/Artist
A 4-6 player comedy/strategy card game where ducks flock together to win against the rogue goose that wants their bread.
Game Adaptations
Game Designer
A collection of projects that changed existing games into something different, such as making an Overcooked card game and reimplementing Space Invaders.
FIN(A+)LS FRENZY
Board Game Designer
A 3-4 player resourced-based board game focused on finding available study times in the library to complete your major in time.
...and more projects to come in the future!
Hello All, Welcome to my portfolio!
I am Ivan Martinez-Arias, a recent graduate at the University of California, Santa Cruz for a Master in Computational Media M.S. and alumnus undergrad at the same university for the Computer Science: Game Design B.S. program.
I primarily work as a general programmer, switching between game design projects to research systems to tinkering around with challenges I find fun and interesting. My biggest interests have been around artificial intelligence (AI) within the games space, whether that be card generation to LLM integration to creating forms of player assistance. I really enjoy seeing games flourish from scratch, observing and working through all the development challenges within. It's a valuable experience I continue to learn as a student, researcher, and teacher assistant. I value playtests, feedback and quality assurance in all programming fields as I am always focused on enriching the user/player experience.
Quickly check out some of my projects and experiences if you would like to know more of what I've done before! I will get back to you as soon as I can regarding any feedback, questions, or comments you have for me. Thank you for visiting!
Extra Facts About Me!
Favorite Video Games: Persona series, Celeste, Zero Escape series, Mother series, Borderlands 2, Plants vs. Zombies, Expedition 33, Black Myth: Wukong
Hobbies: Volleyball, Basketball, All types of games (video, board, card), Hiking, Collecting
<- My personal game collection!
Hover!
Experience and Skills
I have developed many skills throughout my educational years, ranging from general programming to game design applications to skills developed naturally from professional environments!
Languages
Javascript, C, C#, C++, Python, Typescript
Applications
Firebase, LLMs, Adobe Illustrator, Google Apps, Unix Timeshare, Node.js
Computer Graphics
WebGL, OpenGL
Game Engines
Unity, Godot, Phaser
Soft Skills
Leadership, Time Management, Openness to Criticism, Project Management Experience
Curious to know more about my design philosophy? Questions about some projects? Want to chat about anything? Reach out to me at my socials or contacts below!
martinez14ivan0427@gmail.com | (951) 591-5232
