Hello, I'm Karuna Ketan.

AOA: Space Scrap Smugglers

A physics-driven space mining simulator built for emergent cooperative gameplay. I designed foundational mechanics that brutally enforce team communication and authored the documentation that guided production.

• Engineered physics-based tool synergies like the Gravity Beam to force cooperative dependencies.
• Created top-down graybox layouts for the Hub-and-Spoke tutorial world.
• Designed textless onboarding sequences utilizing diegetic visual cues.

Obstacle Assault

A 3D platformer focused on flow state and spatial mastery. I utilized data-driven iteration to balance difficulty, ensuring players feel challenged by the environment rather than the controls.

• Designed movement-driven levels that teach mechanics through risk-reward routing.
• Tuned spatial metrics, jump arcs, and coyote time to minimize player frustration.
• Implemented instant-restart loops to prioritize continuous mastery.

Eclipse of Fear

A systemic survival horror prototype emphasizing psychological tension. I stripped away traditional UI elements to create a highly immersive, vulnerable player experience driven by dynamic AI.

• Designed the diegetic "Lives as Papers" health system where failing physically burns a quest item.
• Scripted a dynamic Intensity Director that scales enemy aggression based on player metrics.
• Balanced 4 distinct enemy waves using Data Sheets to tune speed and detection.

Shattered Charms: Through The Veil

An Action RPG focused on systemic progression and mathematical balancing. I replaced rigid skill trees with modular systems to heavily incentivize player experimentation.

• Designed the active "Charm Matrix" progression system for combat synergy.
• Mathematically modeled a 3-tier purification economy in Excel to balance drop rates.
• Architected a Hub-and-Spoke world layout using lighting cues to control pacing.

The Last of Us: Part I

A deep dive into how Naughty Dog uses resource scarcity, "Pacing Pockets", and environmental storytelling to manipulate player psychology without relying on UI waypoints.