Game & Software Development

About Me

I'm Rafael Zuniga, a Senior Game & Software Engineer with a track record of turning ambitious ideas into fully developed, scalable products. Over the past 8+ years, I've built scalable game architectures, market-ready multiplayer games, and cloud-integrated applications. I bridge the gap between game development and high-performance software engineering.

I specialize in designing and executing complex systems, whether it's real-time multiplayer networking, scalable backend infrastructure, or UI/UX-driven interactive experiences. I thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes environments, leading lean teams to ship high-quality software efficiently.

With a deep understanding of cross-platform development, AI-powered tools, and cloud-based solutions, I focus on building modular, maintainable architectures that allow products to evolve and scale. Whether launching a new product, optimizing live operations, or integrating cutting-edge technologies, I bring a detail-oriented, solution-driven approach where performance, usability, and visual polish work in harmony.

Tech Stack

Unity3D C# Photon PlayFab Azure Firebase WebGL Mobile VR AI Tools Cloud Services

Core Expertise & Specialties

Bridging game development, scalable software, and emerging technologies to build high-performance, future-ready experiences.

Scalable Architecture & Cross-Platform Systems

Building modular, reusable architecture for high performance and scalability
Creating complex ecosystems with numerous APIs, SDKs, Libraries & backend services
Developing cross-platform experiences (Mobile, PC, WebGL, VR)
Deep Unity3D expertise: rendering pipelines, profiling, physics, animation, networking

Full-Cycle Mobile Development

From prototype to production—delivering market-ready games
Advanced SDK integrations: PlayFab, Azure, Firebase, multiplayer
Mobile pipelines, publishing, ASO, analytics, crash-rate reduction
Live servicing & data-driven development

Agile Development & Scalable Execution

Agile, fast-paced development with a problem-solving mindset
Leading high-complexity projects with lean teams and tight timelines
Leveraging AI-powered tools for efficiency and automation
Meticulous attention to detail and quality

Business & Product Strategy

Market-driven development leveraging analytics, ASO/SEO, KPI strategies
Monetization expertise: Ads, IAP, subscription models
Technical leadership—turning ideas into scalable, viable products
Exploring blockchain, digital assets, and tokenized economies

My Portfolio

Projects I've built from the ground up across mobile, multiplayer, and casual gaming

Bumper Aliens

A dynamic 2D shooter mobile game featuring block-based map arenas, customizable 3-part spaceships, and strategic drone systems with five unique types. Players engage in progressively challenging missions, unlock rewards through a chest system, and enhance gameplay with intuitive touchscreen controls and incremental difficulty scaling.

Mobile Unity 2D

Space Box

A thrilling 2D shooter where players build modular spaceships, battle in real-time multiplayer arenas, and unlock powerful upgrades. Featuring dynamic gameplay, diverse game modes, and cutting-edge physics, it offers endless opportunities for strategy and customization.

Multiplayer Photon Mobile

Foka GO

An addictive arcade game featuring vibrant themes, block-stacking mechanics, and endless challenges. Quirky characters, customizable features, and dynamic stages create a playful blend of strategy and timing.

Arcade Mobile

Word Wall

A single-player word game where players place letters on a constantly shifting board, challenging their skills to form words and stay in the game as long as possible!

Puzzle Casual

Dominoes

A classic dominoes experience where players face a CPU opponent with adjustable difficulty. Featuring quick, strategic matches and a sleek, intuitive interface, it's perfect for sharpening skills or unwinding with a relaxing game.

Strategy AI

Bubble Shooter

A vibrant bubble shooter game where players aim, match, and pop bubbles to clear levels. With intuitive controls and satisfying mechanics.

Casual Puzzle

3D Runner

A 3D runner with a quadruped character racing through an infinite, curved world. Featuring procedural levels and enemies resulting in a fast-paced challenge.

3D Procedural

Wormhole Madness

A challenging space puzzle game set in a dynamic, ring-filled environment where fuel management and precise navigation are essential for success.

Physics Puzzle

Marshmallow Bounce

A lively arcade game where players launch and bounce their character across a whimsical candy themed landscape. Fun, fast-paced, and endlessly entertaining.

Arcade Casual

Fly Simulation

A 3D kitchen environment featuring a fly with movement data from a Python simulation, bridged into Unity via UDP. Demonstrates real-time data integration and procedural animation techniques.

3D Python UDP Simulation

Spell Blast

A 2.5D action game built with LibGDX featuring 3D models integrated onto 2D assets. Includes 60 uniquely designed levels, three wizards with distinct abilities, diverse spell attacks and boosts, AI-driven enemies with state machines, progressive stat system, and in-app purchases.

Mobile LibGDX 2.5D Action

Projects I've Contributed To

Handling technical publishing, updates, live ops, and maintenance on Google Play & App Store

Anatomist

Comprehensive anatomy and pathology learning application featuring 3,500+ questions across 26 sections. Enhanced the existing app with improved UI/UX, performance optimizations, authentication systems, and backend integrations. Achieved 35k MAU since my contributions in 2025.

Mobile Education Unity

Off-Road Champion

Led development of Off-Road Champion, a feature-packed off-road racing game with 500k+ downloads. Integrated critical SDKs (analytics, ad mediation, attribution, push notifications), engineered multiplayer mode, adapted 3D vehicle physics for multiplayer synchronization, and integrated Invector's third-person controller.

Mobile Racing 3D

Polygon Mayhem

Joined an existing puzzle app with solid mechanics but fragmented UX. Redesigned gameplay input to make selecting, rotating, and placing pieces intuitive and enjoyable. Reworked interactions, built missing UI, unified flows, and polished it into a cohesive, shippable product.

Mobile Puzzle UI/UX

MORPG Prototype

This 6-month project showcases my expertise in full-stack game development, scalable system design, and real-time multiplayer infrastructure. Built with a top-tier tech stack integrating cloud services, efficient asset management, and real-time networking.

At its core, this project is a scalable, data-driven Online Game powered by:
🔗 Addressables – Efficient asset streaming & memory management, ensuring seamless world transitions and content scalability.
🛠 PlayFab & Azure Functions – Robust backend for authentication, player profiles, economy systems (Economy V2), and data persistence.
⚡ Photon Fusion 2 – High-performance networking for players, AI-driven enemies, synchronized combat, in-game chat, and more.
🌎 Scalable MMO Architecture – Designed for thousands of zones, items, enemies, persistent player data, live events, and ongoing content expansions.
🎮 Cross-platform Compatibility – Playable in Desktop, Mobile and WebGL with keyboard & mouse, controllers and touchscreen devices.

Every aspect of this project reflects my ability to design, build, and finalize production-ready game systems, making it the definitive showcase of my ability to blend technical depth with gameplay innovation.

Latest Work

Cozy 3D scene with Three.js

An interactive 3D forest scene built with Three.js featuring:
🌳 Foliage System – Dynamic tree and vegetation rendering with realistic placement and variety.
✨ Particle Systems – Ambient effects including stars, shooting stars, and fireflies for atmospheric depth.
🎮 Animated 3D Character – Fully rigged and animated character model integrated into the scene.
🎛️ Real-time Interface – Interactive controls for manipulating scene elements and parameters on the fly.

Stylized horror prototype with custom cel shading

An atmospheric game prototype built in Unity (URP) to explore foundational game elements: visual style, mood, and core mechanics.

🎨 Environment & Visual Style – Designed a central environment with detailed terrain sculpting, texturing, and asset placement. Developed a custom cel shader to achieve a unique stylized aesthetic that sets the visual tone.
🎥 Dynamic Camera System – Built a flexible system that transitions between three camera modes (first-person, third-person, and fixed cinematic angles) as part of exploring different gameplay perspectives.
💧 Custom Shaders – Implemented custom water shaders for realistic pond/river effects and compute-based volumetric fog system for immersive environmental depth. Optimized render calls and triangle count to maintain 60+ FPS on modest hardware.
🎮 Motion Matching Controller – Built a custom motion matching solution with tools to bake animations into any new humanoid rig for natural character movement.

Engineering Scalable Games & Software for the Future