Charles Vargas - Senior Game Designer

Professional Summary

Professional Experience

Senior Level Designer (Contract)

• Owned the entire level design pipeline for multiple systemic and semi-linear environments from early blockout to live deployment, ensuring strong alignment with gameplay vision and technical constraints.

• Led the redesign of "Player Island," a hub focused on engagement and economy flow. Introduced structured farming routes that increased exposure to commerce points by ~80%, driving higher natural interaction with vendors and boosting monetization opportunities.

• Authored cross-disciplinary disruption documentation to anticipate systemic impacts of new mechanics, improving iteration speed and strengthening collaboration between design, engineering, and live ops teams.

• Partnered closely with art, engineering, and narrative teams to integrate mission triggers, gameplay mechanics, and UX flows into cohesive player experiences, removing blockers early and maintaining sprint velocity.

Game Designer (Contract)

• Led the reverse-engineering and systemic recreation of core gameplay mechanics from reference titles, conducting detailed breakdowns of visual, UX, and gameplay systems to ensure fidelity in implementation. Created standard documentation improving reverse-engineering speed by ~20%.

• Owned the full design of a major game region, including environment layout, character abilities (PCs & minions), boss encounters, and progression flow — translating high-level concept into executable, balanced, and engaging content.

• Collaborated cross-functionally with art, engineering, and narrative teams to integrate systems into cohesive experiences, resolving blockers proactively and maintaining sprint velocity.

Game & Level Designer (Contract)

• Led the design and evolution of sandbox gameplay systems and mission frameworks for Fortnite Creative, driving replayability and player agency in live content.

• Defined optimization guidelines for asset memory usage, improving production efficiency and enabling larger-scale feature deployment within Fortnite’s technical constraints.

• Designed retention-oriented reward systems and seasonal progression structures, strengthening engagement across multiple content cycles.

• Mentored junior designers on mechanic breakdown, systemic iteration, and gameplay documentation processes.

Lead Game Designer (Personal Initiative)

• Spearheaded gameplay vision and feature direction for an extraction-shooter prototype, defining core loops, risk-reward systems, and progression pacing.

• Owned the development of systemic gameplay rules, resource economies, and player motivation models to support long-term engagement strategies.

• Managed cross-disciplinary workflows, overseeing sprint planning, feature scoping, and iterative testing pipelines.

• Established design frameworks and MVP testing protocols later adopted in freelance and contract projects.

Notable Projects

• Player Island – Skyborne Legacy (2025): Designed a retention-driven hub with economy-oriented player flow, enhancing exposure to in-game commerce and increasing engagement. Authored a systemic analysis model to forecast the impact of new features on existing gameplay, enabling safer feature iteration and strategic decision-making.

• King’s Gambit (PC, 2024): Owned end-to-end design of a key game region, including environment, characters, minions, and boss encounters and led the reverse-engineering and systemic recreation of core gameplay mechanics from reference titles.

• Fortnite FPS Maps (Creative, 2023): Led the design and mentoring of competitive multiplayer maps, creating high-impact environments with optimized combat flow and replayability. Guided junior designers through core development stages, delivering multiple maps in a live, fast-paced environment. Authored competitive multiplayer maps with optimized combat flow and replayability.

• Alpha Molds Prototype (2023): Directed the design vision and production workflow for a vertical-slice extraction shooter experience.

Core Competencies

Technical Skills

• Engines & Tools: Unreal Engine 5, Unity, Blueprint, Blender, Gaea, 3ds Max

• Documentation & Management: Jira, Confluence, Notion, Asana, Miro

• Languages: C++, C

Education