Senior Game Designer
Giant Sparrow
Job Overview
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Job Description
About the Senior Game Designer Role
At Giant Sparrow, we are creating a mesmerizing game experience that focuses on interacting with wild animals. This role is a designer-programmer hybrid opportunity to craft intimate, living gameplay prototypes inspired by classic fairytales, Jim Henson, and Junji Ito.
What You'll Do
Gameplay Prototyping: Brainstorm new interactions between humans and animals, build rapid 3D gameplay prototypes, and act as the team’s champion for game feel by tuning movement controls, physics, and animal responses to achieve a tactile and expressive experience.
Creative Leadership: Collaborate closely with programmers, animators, and artists to elevate prototypes to higher fidelity. Create art briefs and provide constructive feedback to ensure visuals and gameplay reinforce one another, help establish robust prototyping practices, and actively participate in playtests and iteration discussions.
Mentorship: Review and give feedback on prototypes from other designers and manage and mentor junior designers.
What We’re Looking For
Core Experience: Minimum 5+ years of professional game development experience, strong ability to build gameplay prototypes (C++ preferred or strong C# with willingness to learn C++), and proven track record of creating expressive, "juicy" gameplay interactions.
Creative Fit: Candidates should have built non-standard gameplay systems, possess an experimental mindset comfortable with early prototype phases, and value inter-disciplinary collaboration to design holistic game experiences.
Nice-to-Haves: Experience with Unreal Engine and Blueprint scripting, familiarity with Blender or Maya, interest in science, biology, or natural systems, and a background in personal game projects, experimental prototypes, or indie releases.
Work Arrangement
This is a fully remote role. Applicants outside U.S. timezones should ensure at least 4 hours of overlap with the team between 9 AM and 6 PM PT.
Key Skills/Competency
- Gameplay Prototyping
- Creative Leadership
- Mentorship
- C++/C# Expertise
- 3D Design
- Unreal Engine
- Physics Tuning
- Art Direction
- Prototype Iteration
- Inter-disciplinary Collaboration
How to Get Hired at Giant Sparrow
- Customize your resume: Tailor it to highlight game prototyping skills.
- Showcase project work: Include personal prototypes and indie projects.
- Research Giant Sparrow: Understand their creative culture and values.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Review C++/C# and gameplay design principles.
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