Lead Gameplay Designer

3 Months ago • 5 Years + • Gameplay

Job Summary

Job Description

Lead Gameplay Designer responsible for building initial 3D gameplay prototypes in C++, reviewing prototypes from other designers, coordinating with programmers, artists, and animators, conducting playtests, mentoring junior designers, and ensuring the game's interactions feel lifelike and emotionally expressive. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of professional game development experience, strong C++ skills (or C# with a willingness to learn C++), and a passion for creating immersive and memorable gameplay experiences focusing on animal interactions, inspired by fairytales, Jim Henson, and Junji Ito.
Must have:
  • 5+ years game dev experience
  • C++ experience (or strong C#)
  • Build 3D gameplay prototypes
  • Review other designers' prototypes
  • Coordinate with other teams
  • Conduct playtests and give feedback
  • Mentor junior designers
Good to have:
  • Interest in science and biology
  • Unreal and Blueprint scripting
  • Blender or Maya experience

Job Details

Lead Gameplay Designer

Our is about the mesmerizing experience of interacting with wild animals.

We're looking for a designer who wants to think deeply about questions like "what helps make an interaction feel weirdly alive? Or unsettling? Or intimate?" and is ready to explore those questions by building gameplay prototypes. Our goal is to create gameplay that feels squishy, intimate, and strange. Like a , a , or a but filtered through an aesthetic that includes classic fairytales, Jim Henson, and Junji Ito.

Making a game about animal interactions is tricky because a lot of the challenges scale up very quickly. Animals are ludicrously complicated in terms of their behavior, physics, rendering, sound design, and animation, among other things. We're hoping that you're senior AND curious enough to have had experience with a wide variety of game systems because most of our hard problems are very interdisciplinary.

As the game's senior designer you'll have two major responsibilities. First, single-handedly building initial gameplay prototypes to explore potential directions. And second, you'll coordinate and guide the rest of the team as they flesh out the early prototypes created by you and other designers.

We want our interactions to feel as lifelike as possible but we also don't want to spend the next two years making one seagull. Ideally you've learned some hard lessons on previous projects and can push us to ruthlessly cut things players aren't going to notice while advocating for the big swings and little touches that help create memorable moments.

You should be someone with a strong interest in using gameplay to evoke emotion and with the technical skills to single-handedly build 3D gameplay prototypes. They don't have to be beautiful just emotionally expressive.

What you'll do here

  • Build rapid 3D gameplay prototypes in C++
  • Review prototypes created by other designers
  • Coordinate and give feedback to a small team of programmers, artists, and animators
  • Watch regular playtests and discuss feedback
  • Mentor junior designers

Must haves

  • 5+ years of professional game development experience
  • C++ experience OR a very strong C# background and an interest in learning C++

Nice to haves

  • An interest in science and biology
  • Experience with Unreal and Blueprint scripting
  • Experience with Blender or Maya

This role could be fully remote or you can join us in Los Angeles if you'd like.

If you think you'd be a good fit, please .

Similar Jobs

Canva - Senior Frontend Engineer - Apps API Platform

Canva

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (Remote)
2 Months ago
Morning Star - Senior Front-End Software Engineer

Morning Star

Chicago, Illinois, United States (Hybrid)
1 Year ago
rebel wolves - Principal / Senior Tech Artist

rebel wolves

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
505 Games - Senior Software Engineer - Technical Business Unit

505 Games

Milan, Lombardy, Italy (Remote)
1 Year ago
Atari - Creative Designer, Product Packaging

Atari

United States (Remote)
3 Weeks ago
Rocksteady Studios - Senior Gameplay Programmer

Rocksteady Studios

London, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
Holospark - Gameplay Engineer

Holospark

Bellevue, Washington, United States (On-Site)
7 Months ago
Cloud Imperium Games - Senior Gameplay Programmer

Cloud Imperium Games

Manchester, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
10 Months ago
Cloud Imperium Games - Senior Gameplay Programmer (Vehicle Physics)

Cloud Imperium Games

Manchester, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
7 Months ago
Naphora - Junior Gameplay Programmer

Naphora

Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia (On-Site)
4 Weeks ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Xentrix studios - Lighting – Senior Artist

Xentrix studios

India (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Ingenuity Studios, LLC - CG Generalist

Ingenuity Studios, LLC

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Remote)
1 Year ago
Corsair gaming - Principal Development Engineer - Audio

Corsair gaming

Taipei City, Taiwan (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Activision - Expert Software Engineer, Graphics

Activision

Middleton, Wisconsin, United States (Remote)
6 Months ago
Image Engine - Lighting Supervisor

Image Engine

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Hybrid)
3 Weeks ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Lead 3D Character Artist

CD PROJEKT RED

(Remote)
3 Months ago
Daybreak Game Company LLC - Environment Artist

Daybreak Game Company LLC

Austin, Texas, United States (Remote)
5 Months ago
gyb games - Senior 3D Artist

gyb games

Istanbul, İstanbul, Türkiye (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Warner Bros - NetherRealm Studios - Lead Artist

Warner Bros - NetherRealm Studios

Chicago, Illinois, United States (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
Riot Games - Senior Principal Technical Artist

Riot Games

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
9 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Los Angeles, California, United States

Super.com - Senior Tax Manager

Super.com

United States (Remote)
1 Month ago
Zenoti - Inbound Sales Development Representative

Zenoti

Seattle, Washington, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Canva - Corporate Accounting Lead

Canva

San Francisco, California, United States (Remote)
5 Months ago
Epic Games - Lead Online Engineer

Epic Games

Cary, North Carolina, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
HCL Tech - Senior Project Manager with Agile

HCL Tech

Texas, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Comscore - Senior Data Scientist

Comscore

Reston, Virginia, United States (Hybrid)
2 Weeks ago
Putnam - Life Sciences Consultant

Putnam

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (On-Site)
4 Weeks ago
bytedance - Mobile App Engineering Intern (Product RD and Infrastructure - Global E- Commerce) - 2025 Summer (BS/MS)

bytedance

San Jose, California, United States (On-Site)
9 Months ago
Open Systems Technologies - Business Analyst - Bilingual (English/Korean)

Open Systems Technologies

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Haptic  - Gaming Hubs

Haptic

Seattle, Washington, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Gameplay Jobs

Riot Games - Game Designer III - Teamfight Tactics, Gameplay

Riot Games

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Rebellion - AI Gameplay Programmer

Rebellion

Runcorn, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
4 Months ago
Light Speed Studios - Senior Gameplay Designer

Light Speed Studios

Irvine, California, United States (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Studio Wildcard - Senior Gameplay Programmer

Studio Wildcard

Redmond, Washington, United States (Hybrid)
4 Months ago
big red button - Senior Network Gameplay Programmer

big red button

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)
1 Month ago
Postcard games studio - Senior Gameplay Programmer

Postcard games studio

Irvine, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Activision - Senior Gameplay Engineer

Activision

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Intrepid Studios - Gameplay Engineer

Intrepid Studios

San Diego, California, United States (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Illuvium - Senior C++ Gameplay Engineer

Illuvium

Copenhagen, Denmark (Remote)
2 Weeks ago
Riot Games - Principal Software Engineer, Gameplay Networking SME

Riot Games

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

About The Company

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

View All Jobs

Get notified when new jobs are added by Giant Sparrow

Level Up Your Career in Game Development!

Transform Your Passion into Profession with Our Comprehensive Courses for Aspiring Game Developers.

Job Common Plug