Laura DeCarli's Résumé

Game Design & Game Studies

Gameplay Design

Level Design

Hello there and welcome to my résumé!

I am a Swiss-Italian game designer interested in videogames both as a creative profession and as a subject of study.

Last year I've completed IT University of Copenhagen's MSc Games (Design Track) with a practical project on couch coop games with my thesis group.

I'm currently working on small game projects, both solo and in small groups.

I'm open to take commission work to create interactive experiences, teach game design and production and to showcase games at conventions and other events.

Showcasing Games

Work Experience

2025

Assistant Lecturer at the IT-Universitetet i København

I'm employed part-time at the IT-Universitetet i København as Assistant Lecturer since August 2025, first for the course Making Games (MSc in Games) and now for the course Playable Media (MSc Games). In Making Games, students learn how to make games both individually and in groups through the development of five different prototypes in the first half of the semester and one group project during the second half of the semester. This means that the Assistant Lecturer role is also to assist students in their game making process through practice-oriented advice and feedback. The role is similar for Playable Media, although the students taking the course are not necessarily games students which requires me to give tailored advice on how to make playable media prototypes to creators working with playable interactions for the first time.

As TA I contribute to the courses by:

assisting the course managers, teachers and guest lecturers during lectures, with planning, and managing the class materials on LearnIT;
assisting students during lectures, answering questions and providing feedback both in and outside of lecture times;
making presentations to introduce students to the course, the resources they have on campus and give them advice on teamwork for game development;
taking care of announcements for the students through different communication channels (LearnIT and Discord);
structuring and moderating the class' Discord server as a space to share feedback and resources, both peer-to-peer between the students and from the teachers and TAs to the students;
being the in-betweener between students and teachers.

Course Managers for Making Games: Hanna Elina Wirman (Associate Professor), Mikhail Fiadotau (Assistant Professor)

Teacher for Making Games: Regö Porkolab (Part-time Lecturer)
Teaching Assistants for Making Games: Enrico Giuseppe Aiello (TA), Laura DeCarli (Assistant Lecturer)

Course Managers for Playable Media: Ida Kathrine Hammeleff Jørgensen (Part-time Lecturer)

Course Academic Responsible for Playbale Media: Mikhail Fiadotau (Assistant Professor)
Teaching Assistant for Playable Media: Laura DeCarli (Assistant Lecturer)

Volunteering

2026

Barista at Café Analog

Café Analog is the volunteer-ran café of the IT University of Copenhagen, where ITU's student and staff volunteers work together to create a welcoming space to sip some coffee, hot coco or tea while studying, working, chatting or playing some boardgames.

As volunteer I contribute by:

taking orders;
brewing drinks coffees, lattes, hot cocos and other drinks for the café;
cleaning up the kitchen and the machines for the closing shift;
filling out shift-reports..

2025

IT University of Copenhagen Summer Games Showcase 2025

With Summer Games 2025 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of games education and research at ITU, two days filled with talks from games scholars and showcases of games made by current students, recent graduates and alumni. I participated in the organization and planning of the event with other students and teachers.

As volunteer I contributed to the event by:

coordinating and managing tasks;
taking meeting minutes;
working on the budget and inventory for the event;
keeping track of speakers and showcases to contact;
evaluating the games submitted for the showcase and following up on the communication with the student showcasing their games;
taking care of ad-hoc on the foor tasks during the event itself to make sure that everything ran smoothly.

Volunteer Organizers of Summer Games 2025: Enrico G. Aiello, Hanna Wirman, Laura DeCarli, Nicholas Hansen, Małgorzata Mikosz, Mark Staun Poulsen, and Pawel Grabarczy.

Education

2023 - 2025

MSc in Games (Design Track) at the IT-Universitetet i København

Master's Degree

Couch Coop Two-Player Thesis Project:

I have just completed ITU's Master's course in Games (Design Track) by working on my thesis project with Hallur Kristinn, Hanna Katriina Salomaa and Mikkel Iuel. Our thesis was about studying the application of different design methodologies, with a focus on game design values, and it included the production of a two-players local co-op videogame. I've contributed as academic researcher, project manager, gameplay designer, level designer and UI designer.

Elective Independent Group Project:

In the third semester of ITU's Master's couse in Games (Design Track) I've developed with Team Froggames a turn-based strategy videogame prototype in which I've contributed as level designer, QA, and user experience designer.

Game Programmers: Thomas Ovesen Markussen, Thor Lyster Lind

Game Designers: Małgorzata Maria Mikosz, Laura DeCarli

Making Games Group Project:

For the course Making Games from ITU's MSc in Games (Design Track), I contributed as lead game designer, gameplay designer and level designer to the development of a 3D platformer titled Bulb's Escape with WATT?!! Playhouse Production.

Game Programmers: Rasmus Højmark Falden, Alexandros Anemiogiannis, Ezequiel Padillo Molina

Game Designers: Laura DeCarli, Emma Kirk Jeppesen

Producer: Thim Daniel Hansen

I learned:
- to refine my game design methodologies and processes;
- to design gameplay for cooperative, puzzle and platformer videogames, as well as gameplay for cardgames and boardgames;
- to design and implement levels for 3D platformers and turn-based strategy videogames on tiled maps;
- to plan and conduct playtests to answer design questions, evaluate prototypes and games, study player's decision-making processes and for quality assurance;
- to use prototyping as a tool of academic research;
- to analyze formal elements of videogames (e.g., narrative forms, game mechanics, design patterns, etc.) on an academic level both for essays and for solving problems in projects I've worked on;
- to conduct academic research on games, narrative in videogames, players, gaming cultures, modding cultures and game production.

2022 - 2023

Digital Bros Game Academy | Online Blended course in Game

Certificate Level 1

Certificate Level 2

Certificate Level 3

Certificate:

I followed an online blended course in Game Design taught by Derek Hartin at Digital Bros Game Academy to develop more practical skills as a game designer and begin to create a portfolio of games.

Level 2 Group Project:

For DBGA's course in Game Design Level 2, I contributed as game designer and project manager to the development a small 2D mobile game titled Goldash with Qizue Team.

Game Programmer: Cristian Ghiorzi

Game Designers: Michele Buonocunto, Sebastiano Clon, Laura DeCarli

Level 3 Group Project:

For DBGA's course in Game Design Level 3, I contributed as game designer and project manager to the development of a 3D action game for PC titled Nightmare Slayer with Team Impostosaurus.

Game Programmers: Gianluca Colombo, Amiel John Hilario, Emiliano Petrillo

Game Designers: Laura DeCarli, Alessandro Protase, Fabio Secci

I learned:
- about game design principles, concepts, and methodologies;
- to write documentation for development (pitch documents, game design documents, walkthrough documents, playtesting and fine-tuning documents, bug reports, project reports);
- to write analyses for development (mechanical analysis, level analysis, game systems analysis, player experience and progression analysis, menu analysis, competitive analysis, market analysis);
- to create prototypes both on paper and in-engine (Unity and Unreal);
- to use Unity (prototyping, terrain tools, cinemachine, creating level blockouts, C# basics, introduction to animations and to shaders);
- to use Unreal (prototyping, terrain tools, creating level blockouts, Blueprints basics);
- to use Inky to create branching dialogues;
- about methodologies for developing games in an interdisciplinary team (divergent and convergent ideation, agile and scrum workflows, backlogs, etc.).

2018 - 2022

IULM University of Milan | Bachelor's Degree in Communication, Media and Advertising

Bachelor's Degree

Degree:

I pursued my Bachelor's Degree in Communication, Media and Advertising at IULM University of Milan to develop a deeper knowledge of the theories, studies and history of different forms of media.

Thesis:

In my Bachelor's Thesis, The player as co-narrator: This War of Mine, a case study, I analyzed the player's role in the co-creation of a videogame's narrative.
Supervisor: Matteo Bittanti

Co-Tutor: Gemma Fantacci

I learned:
- to do academic research, analysis and writing;
- about semiotics;
- about study of the history, theories, languages and production practices of different forms of media such as cinema, theater, radio, tv, journalism, literature, song and multimedia;
- about sociology and methodology of sociological research at an introductory level;
- about the theories and practices of advertising and psychology of audiovisual communication for advertising;
- about public and political communication;
- about political economics theory.

2014 - 2018

Cantonal Lyceum of Lugano 1 | High School Degree in Economics and Law

Degree:

For my first level of secondary education I have chosen to pursue a high school degree at Liceo Cantonale Lugano 1 in my hometown, with a focus on economics theories and methodologies and on Swiss and international law.

Thesis:

For my high school thesis, The Violets Have Withered, I chose to write an analysis of Ophelia’s character (from Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Hamlet) interpreted by Mariah Gale in the 2009 television film adaptation directed by Gregory Doran.
Supervisors: Michela Broggi & Vanessa Cremona Visentin

Skills & Expertise

Formal and professional education:

Spoken and written communication:

Italian (mother tongue)
English (C2)
French (A2)
German (A1)

On a Master's level:

Academic Research
Academic Analysis
Academic Writing

Game Design on a Master's and junior level:

Game Design Documentation
- pitch documents
- game design documentation (boards, wikis, textual documents, etc.)
- walkthrough documents
- playtesting and fine-tuning documentation
- bug reports
- project reports
Analysis for Game Development
- mechanical analysis
- system analysis
- player experience analysis
- competitive analysis
- market analysis
Gameplay Design
- single mechanic games
- 2D mobile games
- 3D action PC games
- 2D and 3D platformers
- cooperative videogames
- cardgames
- boardgames
Development in Unity Engine
- prototyping
- cinemachine
- terrain tools

Game Narratives
- world-building research
- writing with Inky
- active screenplay writing
Prototyping
- on paper
- in Unity
- in Unreal 4
- iterative prototyping
Game Development in a Team
- project management (groups of up to 5 people)
- divergent ideation
- convergent ideation
- working in an interdisciplinary team
- scrum and agile workflows
- project presentations and reports
- keeping backlogs
Level Design
- walkthrough documents and layout maps
- blockouts and implementation in-engine
- building the final environment
UI Design
- flow diagrams
- menu analysis
- mockups