Open to Junior & Graduate Gameplay Programming Roles

Tal Scheffer, gameplay programmer

Pixel-art portrait of me, with my name underneath

Gameplay Programmer · Unity / C#

View Projects Play the Steam demo ↗ View CV ↓ GitHub ↗

Education

BSc Computer Science (Game Engineering)

Experience

4 years Unity / C#

Focus

Combat · AI · Procgen · Tools

Status

Steam demo live · open to roles

Shipped · Steam demo live · 2023–2026

Lead Gameplay Programmer · Unity / C# · Steam Demo

"You play as Shai, a fallen warrior bound to a vengeful spirit, climbing and fighting your way to claim vengeance against the gods."

Action Roguelike Precision Platformer Pixel Graphics Egyptian Mythology Team Project

Key engineering areas

Combat architecture · Enemy AI · Procedural level generation · Weapons & inventory · Health / damage / poise · Checkpoints & fast travel · Designer-facing editor tools

Built modular combat, weapon, shield, poise, health and damage systems.
Developed procedural level-generation workflows and validation tooling.
Created custom Unity/Odin editor tools to speed up testing and content creation.
Built reusable gameplay architecture using VContainer, UniTask, R3 and hierarchical FSMs.

View on Steam ↗

Shipped · Collaboration with artist, playable on itch.io · 2025

Gameplay Programmer · Unity / C# · Itch.io Release

Below

A night-lit narrative platformer about being lost, and the strangers who talk you through it: no combat, no fail state, nothing to fall back on but the conversation.

Narrative Platformer Collaboration with Artist Pixel Graphics Dialogue Tooling

Built the dialogue and branching-conversation tooling that drives every NPC interaction.
Implemented the platforming movement, checkpointing and level-transition systems.
Worked directly with an artist collaborator to integrate pixel art and lighting into a cohesive night-time look.

Play on itch.io ↗

Solo · Unity

Solo Gameplay Programmer · Unity / C#

Truffle Keeper

An action-survival loop: gather and build out a walled camp, craft weapons at a bench, then spend a Truffle economy at a wandering merchant NPC, with a tamed companion fighting alongside you.

Action Survival Solo Project Base Building Crafting Economy

Built the base-building and structure-placement systems, from grid validation to persistence.
Implemented a crafting and truffle-economy loop, including a wandering merchant NPC.
Programmed a tamed companion's combat AI and follow/assist behaviour.

GitHub ↗

University project · 2023

Sole Programmer · Unity / C# · Team Project

Duck Game

A collaborative 2D platformer where you can call your ducklings to fall in behind you on demand, trailing you from sunlit forest canopies into a glowing underground cave.

2D Platformer Sole Programmer On-Demand Duckling Follow Team Project

Designed and implemented the on-demand duckling-follow system: a trailing formation of AI companions that can be called in and out of formation at will.
Built the 2D platforming movement and the forest-to-cave level traversal.

Newcastle · Inclusivity Game Jam · Nov 2023

Gameplay Programmer · 48-Hour Game Jam

The Interview

The piece explores how identity influences experience. Players walk to a job interview as three different characters; each encounters the same environment, but their journey differs based on who they are.

Narrative Jam 48-Hour Collab Team Project Social Commentary

Built the branching dialogue and choice system driving three distinct character playthroughs.
Implemented the shared player movement and interaction systems reused across all three character paths.

Cross-Project Differentiator

Editor Tooling

Workflow tools that let designers self-serve instead of waiting on a programmer, built alongside every project above.

Odin Inspector ScriptableObjects Custom Editor Windows Validation Tooling Addressables

Odin Inspector

Custom inspectors and attribute-driven editors for combat, ability and enemy data, so designers can tune values without touching code.

ScriptableObjects

Data-driven configs for weapons, enemies and procedural-generation rules: editable and swappable without a rebuild.

Validation tooling

Custom editor windows that flag broken references and bad procedural-generation output before a build ships.

Content pipelines

Addressables-based asset workflows built to keep designer-facing content changes out of the programmer's way.

About

A short summary about me

I've spent 4 years building games more ambitious than a solo or small-team project has any business attempting: a procedurally generated roguelite with a full combat suite, and a systems-heavy life-sim that tries to make you feel something through the mechanics, not the story.

My design sense comes from playing games, not studying them, Project Zomboid, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Ark are the ones I keep going back to. I can still back a decision up with the theory when it's needed, I just don't start there.

In 2025 I facilitated Newcastle University's student game jams, helping teams scope an idea down to something they could actually finish, then debugging it with them when it didn't work.

Me running the registration desk at Newcastle University's Inclusivity Game Jam

Me at the Game Development Society stall, showing off a build on two laptops

Helping a group of students debug their game at a Newcastle University game jam

Showcasing A Tale of Sand and Bone at an evening game showcase event

Pointing out a bug on screen with students at a Newcastle University game jam

A Tale of Sand and Bone running on a laptop at the game showcase event

Focus: Gameplay systems, combat, enemy AI, procedural generation, editor tooling
Education: Newcastle University
BSc Computer Science (Game Engineering)
2023–2026
Languages: C#, Python, Java
Unity: Unity 2022.3 / Unity 6, Editor tooling, ScriptableObjects, Addressables, Input System, Cinemachine, URP, Tilemaps
Architecture: VContainer / Zenject, R3, UniTask, VitalRouter, LitMotion, Odin Inspector, object pooling, state machines