Ben Samara

Game Designer and Programmer

About

Ben Samara Portrait

What draws me to game development is creating unique systems: mechanics that blur genres, reward curiosity, and allow for player expression. My interest in emergent design drives my focus toward roguelikes and indie projects with the freedom to break conventions and take creative risks.

I especially love the way games build community around the unpredictability of emergent play, whether it's a raid group coordinating in real time or a table improvising through a shared story.

My approach to design is inventive yet practical, informed by direct experience across both art and engineering pipelines.



Feel free to reach out at:

RESUME SKILL TREE PROJECTS

Skill Tree

ENGINEERING

GAME DEVELOPMENT

ARTS & DESIGN

Projects

Arena Media

Super Arena

 multi-genre minigames • godot • solo

Developing a game in Godot (currently in active development) that seamlessly transitions players between randomized levels featuring turn-based RPG, beat 'em up, space shooter, and platformer mechanics.

Engineered a persistent progression system to apply player upgrades (Health, Speed, Attack) dynamically across four distinct control schemes and gameplay loops.

PLAY NOW
Wasteland: Mark of the Clay Pool Media

Wasteland

 first-person dungeon crawler • C++ • 2-person team

Worked with another engineer to make a retro first-person dungeon crawler using a custom C++ game engine, completed within a rapid two-week development cycle.

Programmed grid-based movement, room-transitions, real-time combat encounters, interactable resources, and cross-platform builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

DOWNLOAD AND PLAY
Skeleton Mob Club Media

Skeleton Mob Club

 action roguelike • advisor • 2-person team

Guided initial development as technical design advisor and co-developer, scoping core combat loops and establishing an achievable MVP roadmap for a first-time indie creator.

Refactored coupled systems into modular resources, enabling easy numerical balancing and tuning by hand. Shipped follow-up balance patches and hotfixes, overhauling UI and in-game text for readability.

PLAY NOW
Acolytes Media

Acolytes

 roguelike strategy • producer • 5-person team

Pitched and secured greenlight for an original tactical deckbuilder, selected as one of only 7 student projects to enter pre-production.

Serving as producer, designer, and engineer for a multidisciplinary team of artists, programmers, managing core design documentation and project scope. Production will begin in early 2027.

READ PITCH DOC
Merc Media

Merc

 text-based rpg • open source • solo

Engineered a narrative state machine in Twine utilizing HTML/CSS to manage dynamic variables for branching morality paths and persistent companion approval metrics.

Built a 29,828-word interactive story with 117 passages and 106 linked choices.

PLAY NOW
Simple RPG Media

Simple RPG

 classic jrpg • open source • solo

Programmed a retro turn-based RPG prototype in Godot to evaluate core engine architecture, implementing tile-based overworld exploration, trailing party movement, and step-driven random encounters.

Built a speed-ordered combat system featuring persistent party status tracking across battles, stat-modifying equipment menus, and dynamic battle UI.

PLAY NOW

© Website made by Ben Samara