GAMEPLAY PROGRAMMER & DESIGNER
JOSHUA STUNTZNER
Driven by curiosity and devoted to learning. Creating fun interactive experiences using thoughtful design and solid programming patterns. Let’s make something that brings people joy.
PROJECTS
01
Real-Time 3D Mesh Deformer - Unity
This 3D mesh deformer game was developed in 48 hours as a submission to Global Game Jam 2026. It was heavily inspired by Mario 64, but with the idea that player has a number of target selfie challenges that they must recreate by stretching and squashing different parts of their character's face.
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Iterated through different deformation prototypes to develop one that has the right game feel
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The deformer script selects vertices in a sphere around where the player hit and applies a weight to them based on their distance to the player cursor
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Wrote a mesh comparison script that uses Root Mean Square Deviation to return a similarity score between the player's deformed mesh and a target mesh
02
FPS Boss Rush - Unreal Engine
3D boss rush first-person shooter in which the player defeats bosses and upgrades their equipment​
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Engineered enemy AI using Behavior Trees and Blackboards
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Utilized Dynamic Object Pooling to optimize the projectiles dropped in the encounter with boss D0LL
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Integrated skeletal assets via Animation Blueprints, State Machines, and Blend Spaces
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Designed boss encounters by defining boss enemy abilities and unique arenas for each encounter
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​Managed git repo and provided training for teammates unfamiliar with the technology
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Scripted conveyor belt and box spawner for encounter with boss MUNCH_
03
Dating Sim Puzzle Game - Unity
In this puzzle game the player must sort gems between two different gods. Each god has a different preference for different color soul gems, so a red gem on one god's side might be worth 1, but on the other god's side could be worth more. The goal is to find a configuration such that the scales are balanced Players are rewarded with scenes of dialogue between characters.
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Designed core puzzle mechanic of balancing souls on a scale
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Scripted scale object to respond to having objects placed on it
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Implemented dialogue system
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Added lighting to visually enhance scenes and soul gems
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Served as project manager, utilizing tools such as Trello and Discord
04
Physics Puzzle Game - Unity
​This is a Suika-style game in which the player merges gems with like-pieces. The goal of this project was to gain a deeper understanding of the patterns and systems in the popular physics-based puzzle game.
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Implemented a custom Event System that allows each of the pieces, spawner, score manager, and UI to broadcast messages to one another while avoiding tight coupling
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Created game design documentation based off a thorough analysis of Suika. Aspects that were investigated included the exponential growth curve of its fruits, the triangular number sequence used in scoring, and the physics that acts on the fruits.