I'm Karina (they/she), a game designer and developer residing in Massachusetts. I received my Master's in Game Science and Design from Northeastern University in 2021, and my Bachelor's in Cognitive Science with a minor in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2019. My interests lie in interactive experiences for wellness, health, and play.

I have experience in designing and programming for games on a variety of platforms ranging from Mixed Reality headsets to Augmented Reality glasses. Most of my development work has been in Unity / C#, with additional experience in other platforms such as PlayCanvas and Snapchat's Lens Studio. I have been lead developer on several projects, including in house and client facing work.

In my free time I greatly enjoy singing, reading, and playing Balatro 🃏

AuraPets is a hackathon project developed at Google's Project Aura Hackathon at AWE 2026. Our group worked on a multi activity pet application that could run in the background while users multitasked on other work.

As lead developer for our team, I was responsible for putting the different parts of the project together and using the new tools provided by Google to create the actual experience.

Note: the below demo video renders a black square over the container part of the application- this is a recording issue due to the prerelease nature of the technology. In the build you are free to interact with the pet with your hands directly.

AuraPets Demo Video

VR Panel Puzzle Bundle is a set of classic games by Petricore Games for Meta Quest, including Solitaire, Minesweeper, and WordQuest, built directly with Meta. While they run in VR, they're designed as lightweight panel apps, allowing users to have them open while multitasking. 

I worked as the lead developer for this project.

VR Panel Puzzle Bundle Launch Trailer

Hero Bootcamp is an absurdist superhero training simulator developed by Petricore Games that uses the player's gaze as the primary mode of input. As lead developer, I was responsible for the initial R&D involved in creating engaging controls from eye gaze, as well as the creation of all input and logic systems relating to final gameplay.

The game is available for free for the Meta Quest devices (eye tracking is only available for the Quest Pro; other headsets use line of sight).

Hero Bootcamp Launch Trailer

Reaching Alienated Minds (RAM) is a hackathon project developed at MIT Reality Hack 2025. As part of our group's thoughts on current events and media polarization, we created a simulation that aimed to show alt-right pipelines as a slippery slope, and pitched media literacy as the solution. 

I was the lead developer on this project.

Gameplay Footage  |  DevPost Link  |  GitHub Repository

Capsule Critters is a casual VR game originally developed by Petricore Games for the Apple Vision Pro, and ported over to several other platforms. It comes bundled with each new purchase of HTC's VIVE Focus Vision, and is available for purchase on the Google Play, VIVE, Meta, and Pico stores for other headsets.

I was one of two developers working on the port to the VIVE platform, and the solo developer implementing the game's "Rush Mode" that was not in the original Apple Vision Pro release.

Capsule Critters (HTC VIVE) Trailer

AR Experiments is a compilation of mobile AR experiences developed by Petricore Games as a demonstration of how the technology can work rather than a game in and of itself. 

I was responsible for developing the Family Photo (an AR photo frame) and Creature Chorus (an AR spatial audio) experiences.

YouTube Trailer for AR Experiments

Lens Detective is an AR puzzle game by Petricore Games where the player needs to reveal clues hidden in AR objects around their room to complete their challenge. Originally designed as part of an experience for the Snapchat Games service, this Lens was to be paired with a Mini that would allow the player to progress through a plot and solve a variety of puzzles.

I had been working on the Mini side of this experience prior to Snapchat shutting down their Games / Mini service, and later redirected my efforts to making the Lens a standalone experience. Both projects were coded in JavaScript, with the Mini being developed on PlayCanvas, and the Lens being developed in Lens Studio.

Snapchat Link to Lens Detective

This project was a proof of concept / prototyping phase by Petricore Games for an AR children's book. The user would be able to draw on a physical page, scan the page into an app, and the app would start one of two themed simulations that were affected by the user's drawings.

This project was developed in Unity, mainly using the OpenCV for Unity library, and was very experimental. I was one of two developers working on improving the low level image processing.

Fantasy Battle Simulation GIF  |  Racetrack Simulation GIF

Battle Billiards is a PC game by Petricore Games where up to 2 players able to play a game of billiards simultaneously, on the same table, from the cue ball's point of view.

This was my first time working on a published title, and I joined the team late into development. My contributions to the game were porting it over to Steam (it had been intended as a Google Stadia release prior to the platform's shutdown) and addressing QA issues as it was prepared for release.

Steam page for Battle Billiards

it's your small world is a VR game focusing on bringing awareness and the concept of personal responsibility to climate change and ocean health. The game was developed during the XR Brain Jam 2021, which is affiliated with the Games For Change (G4C) conference.

I served as Producer/Project Manager for our team of seven, and I also contributed to the sound design and audio composition for the game.

itch.io page for it's your small world  |  itch.io page for XR Brain Jam 2021