Level Designer

About us

ForthStar is a unique games company based in Manchester, UK, on a mission to make big free-to-play hits. Established in 2023 by Playdemic Founders, Paul Gouge and Alex Rigby, and a team of exceptionally talented industry veterans, ForthStar's core belief is that the best games are made by highly accomplished teams with freedom for creative innovation.

Our mission is clear: to make great games that millions of people love to play every day for years. We take pride in our commitment to building exceptional, mass-appeal games with highly engaging core mechanics that captivate our players and become essential daily entertainment.

We believe in excellence and creative thinking and have a culture that promotes collaboration, innovation, and the continuous pursuit of better. We support each other to make ForthStar not just a workplace, but an inspirational space for creativity and professional growth. We are driven by our commitment to the service of our players and to each other.

About the role

We are seeking a passionate and talented Level Designer to join us as a key contributor to our team here at ForthStar. As an expert Level Designer, you will be responsible for crafting engaging game environments that captivate players. This role requires someone who can seamlessly blend aesthetic design with gameplay functionality, ensuring each level offers a memorable experience.

Whether you're an emerging talent with fresh ideas or a seasoned designer with a wealth of experience, we invite you to join us on our mission to make great games that millions of people love to play, every day for years!

Responsibilities

• Through your level design work and discipline, drive for excellence, identifying issues and opportunities to craft the most compelling game experience.
  
• Align with our business and player goals to deliver gameplay experiences.
  
• Collaborate with the Creative Director and wider design team to ensure you have a clear understanding of the game vision and design intent.
  
• Build level blockouts in Unity to rapidly test your ideas, ensuring they are readable and fully leverage the game mechanics and balancing.
  
• Own scriptable elements within the level experience, working closely with design and code to ensure design intent is met.
  
• Work with feedback from internal and external player testing to iterate towards the most successful and most engaging player experiences
  
• Collaborate closely with the art team to align your levels with the game's vision and aesthetic.
  
• Ensure the integrity and performance of your levels from concept through to final polish, maintaining high standards of quality and playability.
  
• Develop and refine tools, methodologies, and systems to enhance the efficiency and quality of level design creation.
  
• Manage your time effectively to meet deadlines and work with production to ensure levels are well-planned and scoped.

Essential skills 

• A portfolio showcasing your expertise and innovative approach to level design.
  
• High proficiency with a level editor and supporting software — transferrable to working in Unity.
  
• Understanding of game design principles for adherence to game vision, meta and mechanics.
  
• Strong grey-boxing skills to rapidly conceptualise, playtest and iterate upon your designs.
  
• The ability to critique your own work and apply critical thinking skills to both your work and that of others.
  
• Self-motivated and proactive in giving and receiving feedback.

Desirable skills 

• Strengths in environmental or technical art:

Environmental Art:

As well as level design, you also excel at environmental art and can assist or own the process of turning viable level designs into visually appealing environments.

Technical Art: 

You are comfortable in Unity and have technical art skills that allow you to prototype ideas or implement mechanics, VFX and animation to help support wider game development.

• Experience working on competitive, PvP games.
• Experience of mobile game development.
• A passion for playing mobile games.

Recruitment Process

We are committed to hiring only the most talented individuals to fulfil our mission: to make great games that millions of people love to play every day for years. We conduct a fair and objective screening and interview process for all candidates. Our hiring decisions are based on how well each person's skills, experience and traits align with the job requirements and values of ForthStar. 

Diversity

As an equal opportunities employer, we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive team. We believe that our company should reflect the diversity of our audiences and the wider society we engage with.