Hi🌻I'm Ana Nuñez.A Game Designer creating games that make learning feel like play, healing a little less heavy, and spark the kind of curiosity you didn't know you had!"
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[ CV ]
You can download my CV here!
[ About ]
I'm Ana — Anita to friends. Originally from Chile, I moved abroad at 32 with my husband, two suitcases, and a clear sense of what I wanted to make: games that genuinely improve people's lives. Games that make learning feel like play, that make healing feel a little less heavy, and that spark the kind of curiosity you didn't know you had.
That belief is what led me through an Independent Game Production bachelor's and toward a career as a Game Designer & Creative Producer in educational, therapeutic, and journey-driven games.
When I'm not in production mode, I'm working with my hands: collecting small things, crafting pipe cleaner teddy bears, upcycling clothes. There's something about making tangible, careful things that keeps me grounded.
You can always count on me.🌻
[Production]
🌻My skills: Team leadership - Management - Creative direction🌻Software I use: HackNPlan, Miro, Figma, Jira
During my studies, I developed a strong understanding of game production, including interdisciplinary team leadership, project management, creative direction, and leading projects from concept to completion.
Klink & Klank
My role: Creative Producer and Project Manager
Local multiplayer inclusive game (tablet) | Sep - Dec 2025I collaborated with nine team members and VIRO, a social enterprise in Bruges (Belgium) that supports people with disabilities, over a 6-month period. The goal was to create an engaging game that challenges and empowers the individuals in their care.As Creative Producer and Project Manager, I coordinated the team, managed client communication, and tracked progress. I also supported design, art, and development, and organized playtesting sessions to validate the game with our users. This was an especially rewarding experience, as it allowed me to work with a real client while deepening my understanding of accessibility and inclusive game design.
Team's Miro Board
Game Design Document
Gift Shift
My role: Creative Producer and Game Designer
Local multiplayer game (PC) | Feb - May 2026Developed in Unity by a multidisciplinary team of six students as part of the Game Projects course at DAE-Howest, Gift Shift is a playful couch co-op experience where players take on the role of living Christmas ornaments helping Santa process children’s letters.As Creative Producer and Game Designer, I guided the project from its first prototype to the final build, focusing on the game's core interactions and overall player experience. Since our characters have no arms or legs, we built the gameplay around jumping and ground-pounding, with a particular focus on game feel to make every movement and impact satisfying.Throughout development, we continuously iterated through playtesting and player feedback, refining both the gameplay and its overall feel.This project was an incredible learning experience, allowing me to explore how game design, iteration, and game feel can turn simple interactions into satisfying gameplay.
HackNPlan Progress
Cosmic Corsairs
My role: Creative Producer and Art Director
Deck building game (concept) | 2024At Shuffle Studios, I worked in a team of six as Art Director and Creative Producer on Cosmic Corsairs, a deck-building roguelike with physical cards video game concept. I led team organization and created key deliverables, including the business plan and investor pitch, while contributing to the game’s concept and visual direction. Our project was highly evaluated by private investors during a faculty-organized pitching session.
Business Plan
[2D Game Art]
🌻My skills: Style Guide & Art Bible creation - UI - Wireframes🌻Software I use: Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, Figma
A Healer's Diary
DAE - Graphics Fundamentals
Analysis & Style guide for UI and Screens | Exam 2024I created the UI elements and screens for an imaginary game, based on the illustration "HiFi Festival" by Krzysztof Nowak. I chose a moody fairy theme, for a nomad fairy doctor that heals ill animals around different villages.I loved the challenge of conveying a game concept using limited amount of screens and visual elements, while trying to add a personal touch to an already defined style.
Topos-Trópos Bathhouse
DAE - 2D Graphics
Art Bible for a fictional game | Exam 2024"You come across an enigmatic society, living in a surreal and out of scale environment. Interact with this new ecosystem, and loose yourself in its wonders."I loved the freedom this assignment gave me, as I was free to explore and embrace my creative process. Falling in love with the shape of a lettuce was a fun and interesting design choice, which intensified my creativity.
Okami Art Bible
DAE - 2D Graphics
Reverse Engineered Art Bible | 2024With this assignment I learned how to analyse all the visual elements of an existing game. It also taught me the importance of defining clear guidelines and pillars for team members, to develop a consistent project.
[3D Game Art]
🌻My skills: Full pipeline for low & mid-poly game asset creation🌻Software I use: Substance 3D Painter, Blender, Unity
Bloom Dash
PBR Game Asset in UnityThis was a fully developed game asset creation, from concept to implementation in Unity. It was modelled, rigged and animated in Blender, baked and textured in Substance Painter using PBR texturing.
Windmill
HDRP Environment in UnityThis was my first try at creating a modular asset kit, learn about sculpting, and apply different texturing techniques like unique and trim sheet textures. I continue polishing my shaders and materials in Unity as well.
Toy Village
HDRP Environment in UnityFor this assignment I had the opportunity to improve on my asset modelling, sculpting, different texturing techniques like unique and trim sheet textures, shader and material creating in Unity. I also polished my lighting and scene optimisation.
CuppyBot
PBR Character Game AssetI was taught mid-poly to low-poly workflow in Blender, using bevel weight and modifiers. I also tried my first baking and stylized texturing! Cuppy was modelled, rigged and animated in Blender, baked and textured in Substance Painter using PBR texturing.
Zippy
Stylized Texturing ExerciseI received zippy as a finished model and had to use my imagination to give it a personality in a stylized style. I learned the importance of gradients and intentional use of colors. Zippy was baked and textured in Substance Painter using PBR texturing, and rendered in Unity
[Game Design]
🌻My skills: Iterative & Concentric game design - Fast prototyping for web, mobile & PC platforms🌻Software I use: Unity (C#), Miro, Figma, Photoshop
My design process is rooted in creative ideation, rapid prototyping, and a strong focus on game feel and responsiveness.
The Brittle Self
Single-player abstract game (PC and mobile) | Oct - Jan 2026The Brittle Self is a geometric, single-player abstract game where a single mouse-driven gesture is used to explore and interact with the environment.The game is built around the idea that deliberate action drives change. By slicing away protective layers, the player becomes a catalyst: revealing vulnerability, triggering systemic responses, and reshaping the world.This prototype was developed during the semester-long Game Design 2 course at DAE-Howest, using a concentric design approach with a strong focus on game feel and responsiveness.
Game Design Document
Looking for these projects? Check their dedicated pages below
Table For Two — RUN EU Short Advanced Program
My role: Game Designer and Developer
Accessible mobile game - 1 weekBetween February and May 2026, I was awarded a grant to participate in the RUN-EU SAP program “Co-Creation for Inclusive and Accessible Design,” where I deepened my knowledge of accessibility and inclusive game design. I learned about accessibility barriers faced by players with different disabilities, as well as how to apply accessibility principles based on individual needs.During a face-to-face week in Burgos, Spain, I had the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary and intercultural team alongside the APACE Foundation, an association supporting people with cerebral palsy.We met two amazing people at APACE who shared their love of cooking and the challenges that prevent them from doing it independently.Inspired by their experiences, we created an accessible and rewarding cooking game concept that allows players to prepare meals safely, comfortably, and at their own pace.
Purrpal Quest — CrossXTech Hackathon 2025 [🏅Winner]
My role: Game Designer and Developer
Therapeutic mobile game - 2 daysDuring a day and a half, together with my team, consisting of a designer and a neuropsychologist, we developed an app to assist children who suffer from Selective Mutism. This anxiety disorder makes speaking in specific social situations extremely difficult, so we gamified the existing Gradual Exposure methodology, used in therapy, to accompany the child through their process.The game gradually exposes the child to daily-life situations that require verbal exchange, like talking to a teacher during class, by prompting them to record their voice, get comfortable with themselves, and slowly increase the challenge in a rewarding way.This concept won the CrossXTech Hackathon and was selected for further development.
Trail Seekers
Game inspired by trauma research (mobile) | 1 month 2026Trail Seekers is a single-player mobile game designed around visuospatial and attention-demanding gameplay, guided by research that suggests engaging these mental processes may help interrupt or reduce the intensity of intrusive imagery and flashbacks. The goal is to provide a calm, absorbing activity that can be turned to during difficult moments.During the semester-long Game Design 3 course at DAE-Howest, I created several prototypes every two weeks, exploring different applications of game design within the context of cognitive trauma research. This process eventually led to Trail Seekers.Using a concentric design approach, I worked outwards from a core satisfying action, building layer upon layer while carefully integrating principles from trauma research without obstructing the player's experience.
Design Process in Miro
Fast Prototypes
[PROJECT ARTICLE]
From Trauma Research to Gameplay: Designing Trail Seekers
"Many people feel extreme fear during or after witnessing or experiencing potentially traumatic events, such as war, accidents, natural disasters or sexual violence. Around 70% of people globally will experience a potentially traumatic event during their lifetime."This project set out to address that reality, creating an accessible tool to support people through difficult moments alongside traditional therapeutic settings. Rooted and shaped by cognitive trauma research, it applies the lens of game design to a space where accessible, human-centred, support is sorely needed.
Understanding the Research
Following a traumatic event, some individuals develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a condition marked by repeated, unwanted recollections of the trauma that can make the experience feel as though it is happening again. These intrusive memories are often accompanied by intense fear or horror, and may manifest as vivid images, sounds, smells, or other sensations. The impact can be far-reaching, causing significant distress and disrupting daily activities, as well as family, social, academic, and professional life. According to the World Health Organization (2024), an estimated 3.9% of the global population has experienced PTSD at some point in their lives.
Researchers have proposed that because traumatic imagery relies heavily on visuospatial working memory, engaging that same system through demanding visuospatial tasks may interfere with how these memories are processed under specific conditions. However, the mechanisms remain under investigation, and not all visuospatial activities produce these effects.
A key concept is reconsolidation. When a memory is briefly recalled, it becomes temporarily malleable before being stored again. During this window, occupying the brain with competing visuospatial demands may reduce the vividness and frequency of intrusive imagery. This process is often referred to as cognitive interference.Several studies have explored cognitive interference through the use of Tetris, for example:
• Holmes et al. (2009) proposed that playing Tetris after exposure to traumatic imagery could reduce later flashbacks. • Iyadurai et al. (2017) demonstrated promising results using a brief Tetris-based intervention shortly after traumatic events. • Kessler et al. (2020) found reductions in intrusive memories when visuospatial gameplay was used following memory reactivation.
Trail Seekers was designed to translate these findings into an experience that is simple, accessible, and usable beyond a clinical setting.
Translating Research Into Design
The central challenge was not simply creating a game that was engaging, but designing mechanics that continuously demand visuospatial attention while remaining approachable during moments of distress. Using a concentric design approach helped me ensure that all of the elements of Trail Seekers reinforced one another, working toward a common goal.
Why Tilting?
Movement in the game is controlled by physically tilting the phone. This introduces a layer of embodied interaction that connects the player's physical movement to navigation through the environment. The goal was to create continuous visuospatial engagement through bodily movement while encouraging a sense of presence within the game world.
Why Pattern Tracing?
Throughout the environment, players encounter partially visible patterns. Completing these patterns requires mental rotation, spatial navigation, and continuous attention. Because players cannot always view an entire pattern at once, they must construct a mental representation of the shape while moving through space.These tasks were intentionally chosen because they rely on the same visuospatial systems that the research literature identifies as relevant to intrusive imagery.
Why Flowers?
Flowers serve as both feedback and grounding element. As players move, they leave visible traces behind them. Flowers bloom, react to movement, and transform the environment over time. This creates a tangible record of progress while reinforcing the player's sense of agency and presence within the space.
Why Exploration Instead of Challenge?
Many games rely on pressure, failure, competition, or urgency to maintain engagement. In Trail Seekers the intention was to maximize visuospatial and attentional demand while minimizing emotional arousal. Players are free to explore at their own pace without enemies, timers, or fail states. The result is an experience designed to be absorbing rather than stressful.
What I Learned
One of the most surprising discoveries emerged during playtesting.I experimented with a wide variety of systems: mazes, target sequences, speed boosts, unlockable areas, and navigation challenges. But again and again, players gravitated toward a much simpler behavior: leaving their marks in the environment.The act of painting with flowers proved engaging, calming, and meaningful. What began as a visual feedback system gradually became the emotional core of the project.Another unexpected observation was how quickly the phone stopped feeling like a device. Through tilting, movement became physical and playful. The phone transformed into something closer to a toy or extension of the player's body than a traditional interface.These findings repeatedly pushed the design toward simplicity, balancing cognitive demand with low-arousal gameplay.
Limitations and Future Work
Trail Seekers is a research-inspired prototype, and has not been clinically tested. Because access to the intended target audience was not possible during this student project, my evaluation focused on whether the mechanics successfully generated the intended visuospatial and attentional demands in non-clinical participants, through a self-report survey evaluation.I would love to collaborate with researchers, therapists, or healthcare institutions in the near future, to investigate whether this design approach has measurable benefits for people experiencing intrusive memories or flashbacks. I am particularly interested in exploring not only recent trauma interventions, but also how a game experience like Trail Seekers might support people who are years into their recovery journey.
Do you have any suggestions, feedback or relevant sources that might help the development of Trail Seekers?Please reach out to me, I would love to hear it! Thank you for your time🌻.
If you are interested in this project, you can download it here!
References used for this project • Holmes, E. A., James, E. L., Coode-Bate, T., & Deeprose, C. (2009). Can playing the computer game “Tetris” reduce the build-up of flashbacks for trauma? A proposal from cognitive science. PloS one, 4(1), e4153. • James, E. L., Lau-Zhu, A., Tickle, H., Horsch, A., & Holmes, E. A. (2016). Playing the computer game Tetris prior to viewing traumatic film material and subsequent intrusive memories: Examining proactive interference. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 53, 25-33. • Mader, S., Levieux, G., & Natkin, S. (2016, September). A game design method for therapeutic games. In 2016 8th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES) (pp. 1-8). IEEE. • Lau‐Zhu, A., Holmes, E. A., Butterfield, S., & Holmes, J. (2017). Selective association between Tetris game play and visuospatial working memory: A preliminary investigation. Applied cognitive psychology, 31(4), 438-445. • Iyadurai, L., Blackwell, S. E., Meiser-Stedman, R., Watson, P. C., Bonsall, M. B., Geddes, J. R., ... & Holmes, E. A. (2018). Preventing intrusive memories after trauma via a brief intervention involving Tetris computer game play in the emergency department: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial. Molecular psychiatry, 23(3), 674-682. • Asselbergs, J., Sijbrandij, M., Hoogendoorn, E., Cuijpers, P., Olie, L., Oved, K., ... & Riper, H. (2018). Development and testing of TraumaGameplay: An iterative experimental approach using the trauma film paradigm. European journal of psychotraumatology, 9(1), 1424447. • Kessler, H., Schmidt, A. C., James, E. L., Blackwell, S. E., von Rauchhaupt, M., Harren, K., ... & Holmes, E. A. (2020). Visuospatial computer game play after memory reminder delivered three days after a traumatic film reduces the number of intrusive memories of the experimental trauma. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 67, 101454. • Butler, O., Herr, K., Willmund, G., Gallinat, J., Kühn, S., & Zimmermann, P. (2020). Trauma, treatment and Tetris: video gaming increases hippocampal volume in male patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 45(4), 279-287. • Meyer, T., Brewin, C. R., King, J. A., Nijmeijer, D., Woud, M. L., & Becker, E. S. (2020). Arresting visuospatial stimulation is insufficient to disrupt analogue traumatic intrusions. PloS one, 15(2), e0228416. • Kanstrup, M., Kontio, E., Geranmayeh, A., Olofsdotter Lauri, K., Moulds, M. L., & Holmes, E. A. (2021). A single case series using visuospatial task interference to reduce the number of visual intrusive memories of trauma with refugees. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 28(1), 109-123. • Boldi, A., & Rapp, A. (2022). Commercial video games as a resource for mental health: A systematic literature review. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(12), 2654-2690. • Agren, T., Hoppe, J. M., Singh, L., Holmes, E. A., & Rosén, J. (2023). The neural basis of Tetris gameplay: implicating the role of visuospatial processing. Current Psychology, 42(10), 8156-8163. • Beckenstrom, A. C., Bonsall, M. B., Markham, A., Slade, O., Ramineni, V., Iyadurai, L., ... & Holmes, E. A. (2026). A digital imagery-competing task intervention for stopping intrusive memories in trauma-exposed health-care staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a Bayesian adaptive randomised clinical trial. The Lancet Psychiatry, 13(3), 233-247.
Star Beat - Astronomy Faculty KU Leuven
My role: Creative Producer, Game Designer and Artist
Educational astronomy game (web) | In DevelopmentStar Beat is an educational astronomy game that teaches students about stellar vibrations and frequencies in a fun, interactive way. It's being developed for the 4D Star Project of the Astronomy Faculty at KU Leuven.As part of a two-person team, I contribute as Creative Producer, Game Designer, and Artist, helping shape the project from concept to implementation.This project has not only taught me more about our universe and its beauty, but also challenged me to translate scientific research and methodologies into engaging gameplay, with a research paper as my starting point.
More info coming soon!
[Game jams]
🌻My skills: Team organization - game design - UI & Sound🌻Software I use: Unity, GitHub, Photoshop, Audacity, Figma
Game jams have not only tested and honed my skills, but also allowed me to meet amazing people who have shared their knowledge with me. It's one of my favorite environments to create and grow with others.
The Flying Freakshow - XBox Game Camp Belgium Jam 2026
My role: Creative Producer, UI and Sound
Local multiplayer party game (PC) | 2 daysWhat would you do for attention? Our team of 7 students across different majors turned that question into a chaotic party game with a dark twist. You play as a clown animal in a twisted circus, performing increasingly unhinged tricks, and compete with up to 4 players for the crowd's applause. The more it hurts, the louder they cheer.As a Creative Producer I kept track of progress and tasks, designed the UI and sound of the game, and helped with the production of the trailer and pitch.
Starfall - The Sandbox July Jam 2024 [🏅Winner]
My role: Game Design, UI & Sound
Single-player atmospheric game (PC) | 3 daysThis was my first ever game jam and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. We worked at full speed in the middle of the hottest days of summer, pushing through several challenges to make our vision come true. To this day, it still has a special place in my heart. It was a joy to bring our vision of life and death into a hand painted dreamy game concept. I assisted with the sound design, UI and game design.
Chapi, No! - Global Game Jam Antwerp 2025
My role: Game Design, 2D art, UI & Sound
Single-player platform game (PC) | 2 daysTogether with 2 classmates, we worked on a funny and quirky concept. Inspired by the jam's theme "Bubbles", we developed this cute 2D platformer where you play as Chapi, a dog on a bubble frenzy! I contributed with the 2D art, sound, UI, and the game design process.
[Other Projects]
🌻My skills:
[Personal Work]
🌻My skills: Xylography - Collage - Sculpting - Decalcomania
Some ideas that have been quietly waiting in the background. For a long time, they lived inside folders and sketchbooks—now emerging, like seeds finally ready to sprout.
