Design
Rules, balance, pacing, and the choices players actually make.
Game Design • Strategy • Simulation
Curious about systems.
Passionate about building better ones.
I’m Charlie Barra. I like figuring out why games work, what makes players choose one strategy over another, and what happens when one small rule changes everything. Most of my projects start with a question I cannot stop thinking about.
North Star
I’m most interested in the moment when playing a game turns into wondering how it works.
My projects include competitive Pokémon, an original strategy card game, Roblox design studies, programming, cybersecurity, and probability simulation. They look different, but they usually begin the same way: I notice something, wonder why it happens, and try building something to test it.
Analysis
Probability, risk, matchups, patterns, and outcomes.
Building
Prototypes, code, playtesting, fixing bugs, and explaining what changed.
Featured Work
Different projects. Same habit: asking “What happens if…?”
Flagship Case Study
Meteor Mayhem
Taking one card-game idea from rough notes to a prototype people could actually play.
View Case Study →
Competitive Systems
Pokémon
Years of testing ideas, preparing for matchups, and learning what to do when the plan stops working.
View Competitive Play →
Programming
Learning by Building
Four Python projects that taught me how to track information, build game logic, add visuals, and make a four-player game work.
View Programming →Currently Building
Python game • TCG matchup simulator • interactive learning sandbox
These projects are still in development. I’ll add them when there is a working prototype and something worth showing—not just an ambitious title and an empty folder.