Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer

2 Days ago • 4 Years + • Game Programmer

Job Summary

Job Description

Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer responsible for bringing creatures to life in a game about a field biologist interacting with a wide variety of mundane and fantastical creatures. The focus is on creating unsettlingly alive creatures using animation, physics, AI, and gameplay programming. Responsibilities include analyzing real animal movement, working with designers on gameplay prototypes (e.g., a prehensile tongue), creating robust systems responsive to player input, exploring Unreal's procedural VFX systems, and collaborating with artists and animators. The ideal candidate has 4+ years of professional game development experience, strong C++ skills, and comfort with vector math and basic physics. Experience with Unreal, science/biology, and procedural animation are beneficial.
Must have:
  • 4+ years professional game dev experience
  • Strong C++ background
  • Comfortable with vector math and basic physics
Good to have:
  • Unreal Engine experience
  • Interest in science and biology
  • Procedural animation experience

Job Details

Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer

We're looking for a programmer who can help us bring our creatures to life.

Our is about a field biologist interacting with a wide variety of mundane and fantastical creatures. We're trying to create moments that echo the mesmerizing strangeness and familiarity of real-life encounters with wild animals. Like a , a , or a but filtered through an aesthetic that includes classic fairytales, Jim Henson, and Junji Ito.

Your primary focus will be on finding programmatic ways to help our creatures feel unsettlingly alive. That's likely to include a mix of animation, physics, AI, and gameplay programming. It's OK if you don't have direct experience in all these areas but you should have a background that includes technically complex, player-facing systems.

Any experience with traditional gameplay programming would be helpful too. In this game creatures ARE gameplay so there's a lot of overlap between the various systems. The underlying goal for us is an experience that feels responsive which in this game is often synonymous with feeling alive.

This might be a good fit for you if you'd enjoy:

  • Analyzing real animal movement and behavior to figure out ways to improve our creatures' sense of liveliness.
  • Working with designers on gameplay prototypes, eg building a prehensile tongue that can "crawl" around the environment in a suitably stretchy, squishy way.
  • Creating robust that are responsive to player input, eg a belly being poked with a pencil.
  • Exploring Unreal's procedural VFX systems including and . Our goal is to create characters that can playfully respond to perturbation like .
  • Collaborating with character artists and animators on building and polishing our creatures.

Must haves

  • 4+ years of experience as a professional game developer
  • Strong background in C++
  • Comfortable with vector math and basic physics

Nice to haves

  • Experience with Unreal
  • An interest in science and biology
  • An interest in procedural animation

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

Ubisoft - Associate Director of Technical Design

Ubisoft

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Gunzilla - Senior Console Programmer

Gunzilla

Kyiv, Kyiv City, Ukraine (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Ubisoft - Technical Animation Director

Ubisoft

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Hybrid)
3 Weeks ago
PeopleFun - Senior Art Engineer, Unity

PeopleFun

United States (Remote)
1 Week ago
Crunchyroll - Staff Mobile Games Integration Engineer

Crunchyroll

San Francisco, California, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
AGBO - Gameplay / Tools Programmer

AGBO

Raleigh, North Carolina, United States (On-Site)
3 Weeks ago
Cloud Imperium Games - Lead Gameplay Programmer

Cloud Imperium Games

Manchester, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Epic Games - Senior Software Programmer, Developer Relations

Epic Games

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Dream Games - Game Developer

Dream Games

İstanbul, Türkiye (On-Site)
11 Months ago
Haven Studios  Inc  - Programmeur·euse Senior – Jouabilité/Senior Gameplay Programmer

Haven Studios Inc

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
4 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Samsung Semiconductor - Sr. Administrative Assistant (Contractor)

Samsung Semiconductor

San Jose, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Build A Rocket Boy - Level Designer (UGC)

Build A Rocket Boy

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Playrix - Senior C++/Python Software Engineer (Engine)

Playrix

Georgia (Remote)
6 Months ago
Homa games - Principal Unity Developer

Homa games

Île-de-France, France (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Next Level Games - Gameplay Engineer

Next Level Games

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Xentrix Studios - Animation – Junior Artist

Xentrix Studios

India (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Activision - Senior VFX Destruction Artist

Activision

Guildford, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Kojima Productions - Shader Artist

Kojima Productions

Tokyo, Japan (On-Site)
5 Months ago
StarBerry Games - Senior UI/2D Artist

StarBerry Games

Berlin, Berlin, Germany (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Reality Games - Mid-Level Manual QA Tester

Reality Games

Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland (On-Site)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Los Angeles, California, United States

JMA - Regional Sales Director - DAS - Pacific Northwest

JMA

United States (Remote)
6 Months ago
Evolution - Live Game Presenter

Evolution

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Netflix - Broadcast Engineer, Live Broadcast Technology

Netflix

United States (Remote)
2 Months ago
The Walt Disney Company - Senior Product Designer

The Walt Disney Company

New York, New York, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Google - Software Engineer III, Full Stack, Google Cloud Security and Privacy

Google

Chicago, Illinois, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Fortis Games - Head of Analytics

Fortis Games

United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Evolution - Online Game Presenter 3PM-11PM Shift/ Paid Training/ Full Time Benefits $20-$25/hr.

Evolution

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Google - Infrastructure Delivery Lead, Energy and Location Strategy

Google

Kirkland, Washington, United States (On-Site)
2 Days ago
Polygon Labs - Senior DevOps Engineer

Polygon Labs

United States (Remote)
3 Weeks ago
Populla - Director, Customer Success

Populla

Denver, Colorado, United States (On-Site)
1 Day ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Game Programmer Jobs

Qingci Games - Senior Unity3D Developer

Qingci Games

Xiamen, Fujian, China (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
BULKHEAD - Senior Gameplay Engineer

BULKHEAD

Derby, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Streamline Media Group  Inc  - Junior Game Programmer (Unreal)

Streamline Media Group Inc

Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory Of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Tencent - Senior Scene Artist

Tencent

Shanghai, Shanghai, China (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Embark Studios - Senior Gameplay Programmer - Games

Embark Studios

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Ubisoft - Programming Team Lead (Engine)

Ubisoft

Saguenay, Quebec, Canada (Hybrid)
11 Months ago
Krafton  - Gameplay Programmer Lead

Krafton

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Old Skull Games - Lead Programmer Unreal

Old Skull Games

Villeurbanne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Paxie Games - Sr. Game Developer

Paxie Games

Göztepe, İstanbul, Türkiye (On-Site)
5 Months ago
G5 Games - C++ Gameplay Programmer

G5 Games

Astana, Astana, Kazakhstan (Remote)
6 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

About The Company

Giant Sparrow is a tiny video game company focused on creating surreal experiences people have never had before. Our dream is to make the world a stranger, more interesting place.

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