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Ali Shirzad

Game DesignerLevel Design | Quest Design | Systems & Economy

Yerevan, Armenia|hey@alishi.me|alishi.me|alishi973.itch.io|linkedin.com/in/alishi973|Available immediately

Summary

Game designer focused on level design, quest design and progression. Designed two Unity games solo, one shipped and one in development, taking each from concept and design docs through playtesting. Former software engineer, so my prototypes and data-driven tools don't wait on a programmer.

Projects

Trashland Survivors | Game Designer, solo project

In development

Story-driven survivors-like with base defense · Unity 6 · Mobile, Telegram · 2026

  • Narrative & quests: original story (the player searches for crewmates after a helicopter crash) told through a quest chain; each objective is tied to a place in the world, with an on-screen marker.
  • Onboarding: the first camp upgrade doubles as the lesson on how upgrades work.
  • Level design: open map around a central camp with scrap fields, hidden caches and threat zones that reward leaving safety.
  • Systems & economy: modular camp and a two-currency economy; every upgrade level unlocks something new.
  • Iteration: playtests showed the XP curve blocked level-ups; rebalanced so choices appear in the first minute.

LoosyWheels | Game Designer, solo project

Shipped

Top-down endless arcade driver · Unity 6 · Browser, Mobile, Telegram · 2026 · shipped in 1 week · alishi973.itch.io/loosywheels

  • Level design: modular road chunks (city, beach, country, junctions) streamed in random order, each leaving a way through.
  • Designer tools: editor tools for chunk authoring: lane snapping, car spawners, a fairness check that flags impassable spots.
  • Core loop & economy: near-miss combos that double income, a garage of stat-priced cars, a leaderboard, taxi fares and a daily word quest.
  • Controls & feel: tap, drag and tilt schemes tuned to the same handling.

Experience

Game Designer | Personal projects, self-employed

Jun 2026 – Present

  • Designing and shipping original games end to end: concept, level and systems design, playtesting and release (LoosyWheels, Trashland Survivors).

Software Engineer | Pragmidea Ltd, London (remote)

Jun 2023 – Jun 2026

  • Built UI for client iOS and Android apps, matched to the designs and tested on real devices.
  • Integrated headless CMSs (Directus, Payload) so content could change without new releases; wrote and maintained Cypress E2E tests.

Software Engineer | Snapp!, Tehran

Sep 2020 – Jun 2023

  • Improved app performance by 40% (Lighthouse) by refactoring a large React application.
  • Built a UI kit with the product team and shipped analytics tooling with the marketing team.

Frontend Developer | Peste (freelance), Miz

Mar 2020 – Sep 2020

  • Built front-end features for web products in Tehran and Mashhad.

Skills

  • Design: Level design, Quest & narrative, Systems & economy, Progression & balance, Onboarding, Game feel
  • Engine: Unity 6 (URP), C#, ScriptableObjects, Editor tools
  • Production: Design docs & specs, Rapid prototyping, Playtesting, Shipping to mobile & web

Education

B.Sc. Software Engineering, Khayyam University, until 2022

Languages

Persian (Bilingual), English (Working proficiency)