Jeffrey Gichuki

Nairobi, Kenya · julian.gichuki@gmail.com

Senior Unity Developer specializing in scalable game architecture and performance optimization. Expert in applying design patterns (MVC, Observer, State) and data structures to build maintainable, high-performance systems. Led cross-functional teams to ship 20M+ download mobile title and currently architecting narrative-driven PC/Console RPG.

Experience

Virdane Labs Ltd

Nairobi, Kenya

Co-Founder & Lead Programmer
  • Secured funding and established studio to develop Son of Mabin, a narrative-driven RPG for PC/Console following a hero's journey to save mystical creatures across multiple realms
  • Lead all technical development as sole programmer, architecting core systems including camera, gameplay mechanics, UI, VFX, and build optimization from prototype to MVP (targeting April 2025 release)
  • Manage cross-functional team of 7 across programming, art, narrative, and audio departments, coordinating with co-founders (Creative Director, Art Director) to ensure cohesive vision and deliverables
  • Drive game design, production timeline, market research, and co-write narrative content while directly mentoring 1 junior developer
November 2024 - Present

Mekan Games LTD

Nairobi, Kenya

Team Lead & Senior Unity Developer
  • Shipped The President, a mobile game achieving 20M+ downloads globally across iOS and Android platforms, with responsibility for gameplay programming, build optimization, profiling, and quality control
  • Led team of 3 developers through 80+ prototype iterations in Agile/Scrum environment (2-week sprints), delivering 14 successful releases by analyzing user engagement metrics (retention, monetization potential, session duration) to prioritize high-performing concepts
  • Drove prototype-to-marketing pipeline including gameplay capture and promotional video creation, applying data-driven insights to optimize social media performance and concept validation
  • Mentored junior developers on mobile game optimization, version control workflows (Git), iterative design processes, and performance-based development practices
April 2021 - November 2024

Unity Technologies

Nairobi, Kenya

Student Ambassador - Strathmore University

Organized and executed 2 workshops educating 50+ university students on Unity game development fundamentals and engine workflows

January 2019 - May 2021

Early Career Experience

Nairobi, Kenya

Game Development & Software Engineering Internships

Jiwe Studios - Contributed to writing, design, development, testing, and publishing of in-house game projects
Tezza Business Solutions Ltd - Collaborated with developer and QA teams on web services, API development, testing, and technical documentation

January 2020 - April 2021

Education

Strathmore University

Bachelor of Science in Informatics and Computer Science

GPA: 3.02

2017 - 2021

Consolata High School

General Studies

KCSE Grade: B-

2013 - 2016

Technical Skills

Core Competencies

Unity Development: C# (Expert), Gameplay systems architecture, UI/UX implementation, VFX integration, Build optimization & profiling

Cross-Platform Development: Mobile (iOS/Android), PC, Console | Version control (Git) | Agile/Scrum methodologies

Game Development: Rapid prototyping, Data-driven design, Market research & KPI analysis, Team leadership & mentoring

Software Architecture & Design

Design Patterns: Behavioral (Observer, State, Strategy, Command), Creational (Singleton, Factory, Object Pool), Structural (MVC, Adapter, Facade)

Architectural Patterns: MVC/MVVM, Event-Driven Architecture, Component-Based Design, Modular Systems

Data Structures: Arrays, Linked Lists, Hash Tables, Trees, Graphs, Priority Queues, Stacks - with understanding of time/space complexity trade-offs

Technologies
  • C#
  • C++
  • GDScript
Additional Tools

C# ASP.NET, Git, Trello, Jira, Slack, NPM, MySQL, Krita, Inkscape, Blender, Modular Design, Clean Code Practices

Certifications

General Course on Intellectual Property

World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO

Issued 2025

CrazyHubs Graduate - The Hyper-Casual Gaming Accelerator

CrazyLabs

Credential ID 1121170005

Certified in a standardised and evolving set of Game Development Principles, Project Management theories and Best Market Metrics when building Hypercasual Games.

Issued March 2022

Awards & Honors

  • Game of the Year - The President, Mekan Games Ltd.
    Games Industry Africa Awards • 2022

    Successfully shipped Africa's first mobile game to ever hit over 20M+ downloads globally.

  • Most Impactful Video Game - The President, Mekan Games Ltd.
    Games Industry Africa Awards • 2022

    The game brought more revenue streams into the African Continent as Publishers began to explore more partnerships with African Game Development studios.

  • Debut of the Year - The President, Mekan Games Ltd.
    Games Industry Africa Awards • 2022

Projects

Virdane Labs

Mekan Games Ltd.

Videos

My Portfolio Video

A video with a portion of the games I've worked on Professionally and Personally.


Hyper-Casual Games Highlight Reel

A subset of the games worked on whilst at Mekan Games Ltd.

Code Snippets

Browse through examples of my code demonstrating design patterns, system architecture, and best practices. All snippets are loaded directly from my GitHub repository.

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