Hello
I'm Marta, an eclectic game designer crafting experiences that foster community.
Work
Click below for more information on each project.
About
I have over 4 years of experience working with some of the most incredible creatives in games. Skilled in both gameplay systems and narrative, and with a strong capacity to balance the creative and technical sides of the job, I liaise successfully with multiple departments to create immersive, emotional experiences that resonate with players.
Experience
GAME AND NARRATIVE DESIGNER
Self-employed | January 2025 - Present
After career break to live abroad, currently working freelance while I develop my own project.
Currently working with Unreal Engine 5 (Blueprints) and Godot (GDScript)
Extensive experience in branching narrative software (Articy:Draft, Arcweave, Twine)
GAME DESIGNER
INTERIOR/NIGHT | December 2022 - December 2023
Shipped Game: As Dusk Falls (PC, Xbox, PS4/PS5) — TGA Games For Impact Award; MCV/Develop Narrative Innovation & Accessibility Innovation Awards; BAFTA Nomination for Best Debut Game
Served as the primary point of contact for all branching logic issues
Improved content and assisted with bug fixing for the PlayStation porting project
Developed an intuitive UI flow for joining multiplayer on mobile devices
Implemented and helped test new audio description content for the whole game
Collated team feedback across several areas and wrote the Design Post-Mortem
Wrote a full update to the main GDD
Collaborated with the Code team to create tools & systems to optimise Design work
Designed, prototyped and playtested new gameplay and UI
Brainstormed and pitched new concepts after launch
Provided general Design support to other disciplines — mainly Code and Cinematics
JUNIOR GAME DESIGNER
INTERIOR/NIGHT | December 2021 - November 2022
Implemented and sanity checked narrative branching logic
Assigned gameplay beats to scripts ensuring balance of story and interaction
Assigned and balanced player values for choices, used in end of episode badges
Implemented and balanced gameplay and haptic feedback throughout the game
Reviewed and tested the Companion App for iOS and Android, used as a controller
Assisted the Cinematic and Art teams with conditional animations and overlays
Liaised with localisation teams to provide context for in-game dialogue, choices and UI, as well as helping with Portuguese Localisation QA
GAME DESIGN INTERN
INTERIOR/NIGHT | March 2021 - November 2021
Implemented dialogue and scene content in engine
Created and maintained design documents
Reviewed and improved closed captions
Assisted with Design bug fixing
Additional
EVENTS ORGANIZER
Game Dev Lisbon | July 2025 - Present
Working with Game Dev Lisbon in organizing events, game jams, and meetups for the growing local game dev scene.MEDIA
Público Interview | August 2024
Interviewed by one of the major Portuguese newspapers for an article about the role of women in the games industry.JUDGE PANELS
DevGAMM Awards Judge | November 2024, November 2025
Part of the jugde panel for the DevGamm Awards in 2024 and 2025, a competition for emerging talent from indie to AA.APVP Judge Support | July 2024
Helped APVP (Associação de Produtores de Videojogos Portugueses) in choosing the best submissions for Barcelona Indie Dev DaySpotlight Awards Judge | November 2023
An initiative by Game Dev Lisbon that aims to celebrate the games, teams and people that have positioned Portugal as an international industry playerLIMIT BREAK MENTORSHIP
Game Design Mentor | May 2024 - November 2024
Narrative Design Mentee | May 2024 - November 2024
Level Design Mentee | May 2023 - November 2023
Game Design Mentee | May 2022 - November 2022WOMEN IN GAMES
Ambassador | April 2023 - Present
Education & training
GAME WRITING MASTERCLASS I
November 2024
The Narrative DepartmentWRITING BOOTCAMP
August 2024
The Narrative DepartmentAUDIO DESCRIPTION TRAINING
October 2023
Descriptive Video WorksSTORY FOR VIDEOGAMES COURSE
July 2022
John Yorke StoryBSC - COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
July 2019
Instituto Superior Técnico
Lisbon, Portugal
About
An original interactive drama that explores the entangled lives of two families across thirty years, where the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters' lives. My contributions on this project included implementing and sanity checking narrative branching logic and conditional content, designing and implementing haptic feedback, balancing player choice values for end of episode badge attribution, developing UI flows for the mobile companion app and implementing audio description.
Highlights
Won Narrative Innovation and Accessibility Innovation at the MCV/Develop Awards 2023
BAFTA Nomination for Best Debut Game 2023
Tribeca Festival 2022 Official Selection
About
Frame of Mind is a puzzle game of deducing dual deceptions, submitted to The Case of the Thinky Game Jam in December 2023.Players must hunt for contradicting clues in a diary and a sketch to piece together the correct timeline of events and solve the mystery of a missing famous researcher.I've contributed to this project as a Game Designer, having defined the core gameplay loop and interactions, as well as UI flows.
About
Taxidermixology is a co-operative absurd puzzle game, where players work together to solve an eccentric client's rhyming riddles in order to build him the perfect taxidermy abomination.I was in charge of the Game and Level Design in this project, developed as part of a Game Jam I organised at INT/NIGHT with around 30 people!
About
Shattered is a small branching narrative project I made in Arcweave, set in a post apocalyptic future where humanity faces a critical environmental crisis.It's an example of a side quest in a much larger open world game universe, where the player is faced with a classic trolley problem and their choices matter in the story's outcome.You can play it here. You can also check how I built it and how it works under the hood here.
About
Water, s'il vous plaît is a small branching text game made in Twine, about a protagonist who wants a glass of water, and an indifferent french waiter who is not particularly interested in delivering it.The stakes are high: you have 5 minutes to obtain the glass of water... or die of thirst. How will you convince the waiter? Or, perhaps, will you find another way to drink?This project is meant to showcase dialogue and interaction, while introducing branching through natural choices and revealing their consequences.Click on the image to play!
Stuck in an Elevator
Here's a fun exercise! A short scene in screenplay format, consisting of three video game characters who get stuck in an elevator.They are Victor “Sully” Sullivan from the Uncharted series, Jesse Faden from Control, and Luigi from Luigi’s Mansion and the Super Mario franchise.My objective was to create a fun, action based script while portraying each character’s voice in a familiar and recognisable way, which proved a challenge on a mostly non-verbal character like Luigi.I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear your feedback!