Manu Shaji

Manu Shaji Gameplay Programmer

I build gameplay systems, UI and tools at Ubisoft, writing C++ and C# across iOS, Android, Windows and macOS.

9+ years at Ubisoft, from QA intern to gameplay programmer

See my projectsContact me

Personal projects

Games, mechanics and small web apps I built on my own time.

LMNtal title art with four round element icons for air, earth, fire and waterLMNtalAndroid gameFlip-Flap gameplay, with a small blue bird flying between rock pillars and a score of 2Flip-FlapAndroid and WebGL gameA purple control ray fired between two avatars in a dark brick levelPlayer control transference2D mechanic
The Hole in One main menu with start, scores and exit buttons under a night skyHole in OneAndroid golf gameAn underwater view of a submarine with a green radar and a compassSubmarine HUDGame UIThe Unity editor beside a game view of a winding generated roadEndless procedural pathEndless-runner mechanicThe password generator form on a colorful gradient backgroundPassword generator and URL shortenerWeb apps

Experience

Five roles at Ubisoft in Abu Dhabi, all on Growtopia. Open a role for the details.

  1. 2024 to now

    Gameplay Programmer

    Now building complex systems and live features, and owning more of how they ship.

    See details
  2. 2022 to 2024

    Junior Gameplay Programmer

    Moved into programming, shipping gameplay systems in production C++ on four platforms.

    See details
  3. 2020 to 2022

    QA Tester

    Led release testing, built testing tools, and wrote my first approved production fixes.

    See details
  4. 2018 to 2020

    Junior QA

    Took ownership of feature testing, and started reading C++ to trace bugs to their cause.

    See details
  5. 2017 to 2018

    QA Intern

    Started by testing gameplay features and content, and reporting defects to developers.

    See details

Tech stack

Languages
  • C++14
  • C++17
  • C#
  • Python
  • Lua
  • Objective-C (basic)
Engines and graphics
  • Unity
  • BGFX
  • OpenGL
Libraries
  • nlohmann/json
  • Boost
  • RmlUI
Development tools
  • Visual Studio
  • Xcode
  • CMake
  • Perforce
  • Jenkins
  • Jira
  • Confluence
  • Firebase Crashlytics
Data
  • JSON
  • XML
  • YAML
  • MySQL
Art and web
  • Photoshop
  • HTML
Platforms
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • iOS
  • Android

Education and certificates

Education

  1. 2011 to 2015

    B.Tech., Mechatronics Engineering

    Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai

  2. 2015 to 2017

    MBA, Marketing

    Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai

Certificates

About

I started in games by breaking them, and now I build them. I'm easy-going, and I love 90s games and cartoons. My favourite games so far are Ori and the Blind Forest and Hollow Knight. I also recreate game mechanics I find interesting, and make 2D and 3D art for fun.

Contact

Send me a message about games, projects or anything you've seen here.

I'll reply to the email you enter.

Secrets found

terminal

LMNtal title art with four round element icons for air, earth, fire and water
LMNtal gameplay, with a card describing soil over a grid of discovered elements
1 / 3

Android game

LMNtal

A crafting game where you combine the elements you've found to discover new ones.

My role

Solo. Gameplay, design, UI and art.

What I built

  • The crafting system behind every combination
  • An achievement system
  • Save data
  • Icons for more than 50 elements

Tools

Unity, C#, Photoshop

See LMNtal on itch.io

Flip-Flap gameplay, with a small blue bird flying between rock pillars and a score of 2
Flip-Flap title art of a blue pixel bird over a mountain landscape
1 / 2

Android and WebGL game

Flip-Flap

An arcade endless runner where a small bird flies between rock pillars. It started on Android and later moved to the browser.

My role

Solo. Programming, design, UI and art.

What I built

  • The WebGL version of the Android game
  • Separate code paths for each platform, using preprocessor directives
  • A Google Play leaderboard and save data
  • Adaptive banner and rewarded ads with Google AdMob

Tools

Unity, C#, Photoshop

Play Flip-Flap on itch.io

A purple control ray fired between two avatars in a dark brick level
The same dark brick level lit by wall lamps, with an avatar on a ledge
1 / 3

2D mechanic

Player control transference

Fire a ray at another avatar and take control of it, as long as nothing blocks the line of sight.

My role

Solo.

What I built

  • 2D raycasting for line-of-sight targeting
  • Custom shaders for the ray animation
  • A test level, built with Unity's tilemap editor
  • Light and shadow, using Unity's 2D renderer

Tools

Unity, C#

The Hole in One main menu with start, scores and exit buttons under a night sky
1 / 2

Android golf game

Hole in One

A mobile golf game about sinking the ball in as few shots as you can.

What I built

  • Trajectory calculation with a visible aim path
  • Google Play services and Google AdMob integration
  • Save data

Tools

Unity, C#

An underwater view of a submarine with a green radar and a compass
1 / 2

Game UI

Submarine HUD

A working radar and compass for a submarine game.

What I built

  • A radar drawn by a secondary camera with a layer mask
  • A compass that turns with the submarine's heading against the game's true north

Tools

Unity, C#

The Unity editor beside a game view of a winding generated road
1 / 2

Endless-runner mechanic

Endless procedural path

A road that keeps building itself ahead of the player.

What I built

  • Random selection of a suitable tile to extend the path
  • Removal of each tile once it leaves the camera's view

Tools

Unity, C#

The password generator form on a colorful gradient background
A generated password shown with its QR code
The URL shortener showing a newly generated short link
1 / 3

Web apps

Password generator and URL shortener

Two small web apps of my own: a password generator with QR codes, and a URL shortener.

What I built

  • QR code generation and random strings in Python
  • Web apps with Flask, and storage with SQLite
  • Hosting on Amazon EC2, with rate limiting through NGINX

Tools

Python, Flask, SQLite, NGINX, Amazon EC2

February 2024 to now

Gameplay Programmer

Ubisoft, Abu Dhabi

What I did

  • Develop gameplay systems and live-service features for Growtopia
  • Built a configurable wardrobe system with presets across every character body slot
  • Built a reusable bingo card system that connects to existing gameplay systems
  • Built a real-time trading UI with search results that update in place
  • Built an in-game auction system with item listings and player bidding
  • Reworked the store into a configuration-driven system with automatic item conditions
  • Improved rendering with batching for the heaviest worlds
  • Wrote Python automation for version and build updates across platforms
  • Took on more ownership of branch merges, build-system updates, compile errors and live-crash investigation

June 2022 to February 2024

Junior Gameplay Programmer

Ubisoft, Abu Dhabi

What I did

  • Developed and maintained gameplay systems and production C++ across iOS, Android, Windows and macOS
  • Improved the asset download system with multithreaded downloads
  • Fixed production defects and traced them through existing systems to their root cause
  • Designed configuration files that let gameplay features change without server restarts
  • Extended QA cheats in C++ to produce results and summaries automatically
  • Contributed to cross-platform SDK upgrades and integrations

July 2020 to June 2022

QA Tester

Ubisoft, Abu Dhabi

What I did

  • Led testing and release validation for a live game across iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and console platforms
  • Developed testing cheats in C++ and AutoHotkey
  • Took ownership of client builds using Jenkins, so routine QA builds no longer depended on other teams
  • Contributed approved C++ production fixes
  • Mentored QA interns
  • Coordinated testing, live bugs and release sign-offs with internal and external teams

June 2018 to July 2020

Junior QA

Ubisoft, Abu Dhabi

What I did

  • Managed feature testing and defect reporting independently
  • Designed thousands of test cases to widen test coverage
  • Performed white-box testing through C++ code analysis in Visual Studio
  • Analysed backend C++ systems and recommended technical fixes
  • Built the technical foundation for moving into gameplay programming

June 2017 to June 2018

QA Intern

Ubisoft, Abu Dhabi

What I did

  • Tested gameplay features and content for Growtopia, a globally released live-service game
  • Identified and documented defects using Jira
  • Worked with developers through Jira to validate fixes
  • Validated features and content using Jira, Perforce, Confluence and Microsoft Office