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Here is one of the many positions currently advertised.

Location: Issaquah, Washington
Role: Design and implementation of the gameplay of a Rogue-lite role-playing game.
Live: Intermediate level, more than 5 years of professional experience in video game design.
Must have successfully shipped at least one title in the design role.
size of the company: 4 employees, ~ 6 entrepreneurs
Type of employment: Employee (local on site and teleworking) or entrepreneur (local or remote).
Pay: $ 40.00 – $ 60.00 per hour – Depends on skills and experience
Hours (if employed): Full time
Benefits (if employed): paid sick time, public holidays and vacation; medical, dental and vision insurance.

Overview

Seismic Squirrel is a tight-knit little video game studio passionate about developing well-designed, easy-to-learn, hard-to-master strategy games. Our agile size allows everyone to have a voice in the projects we create, requiring the ability to be both detail-oriented and flexible.

We are looking for a creative and resourceful Senior Gameplay Designer to join our team and lead the overall design and implementation of our game. This role involves Systems Mechanics, User Interface and Level Design, Storyboard Creation , as well as effective collaboration and communication with various stakeholders. It requires a clear understanding of the gaming experience and the needs and expectations of gamers, a logical and systems thinker, an iterative approach to development, a spirit of collaboration and an enthusiasm for video games.

The ideal candidate is motivated to create a fun and cohesive gaming experience capable of empathizing both with new players and with experts in the genre. They enjoy working with talented engineers, designers, authors, artists and executives. They are committed to improving and improving the team; they see the success of the business as a reflection of their own growth.

The office of Seismic Squirrel is located in Issaquah, WA. For employee candidates, this role includes both face-to-face work in the office part of the time for collaboration and design, and telecommuting part of the time for focus and productivity. For candidate entrepreneurs, this position requires regular online collaboration. In both cases, participation in team meetings (e.g. daily scrum, retrospective, sprint planning, design meetings) and availability during main working hours (10:00 am – 5:00 pm Pacific) are required. . Occasional late evening, evening and early morning calls are expected for international meetings with external contributors. Occasional travel to gaming related trade shows, local to Seattle and elsewhere, may be required.

COVID-19 Quarantine Note: Due to the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine, all in-person office meetings have been replaced with full-time telecommuting / remote work until further notice. During this time of physical isolation, we continue to stay engaged as a team using video conferencing and other collaborative tools. In-person meetings are not expected to resume until the summer or fall of 2021 with widespread vaccination of the general public.

For more information on the seismic squirrel, visit http://www.SeismicSquirrel.com/

Quests

• Lead the design of the gameplay experience for our upcoming video game, a rogue-lite RPG, featuring system mechanics, balancing, level design, user interface, and narrative integration.
• Clearly document the design in Concept Doc, GDD, storyboards and wireframes.
• Actively collaborate with the product team on game design and creation of game concepts.
• Work with the development team to maintain UX quality during the design implementation.
• Take part in internal play testing and commentary.
• Communicate openly with team members about progress and issues, define deliverables, and help set project deadlines and expectations.
• Design tutorials, captions, hover hints and tooltips to help new players get into the game.
• Predict, identify, and resolve user experience issues that could hinder player enjoyment.
• Design game instrumentation and interpret analytical data to improve user experience.

Character statistics

• Over 5 years of experience in the design role throughout the entire game development lifecycle from start to finish:
  concept, design, prototyping, programming, content creation, testing, optimization, launch, support.
• Have a solid understanding of design principles.
• Hands-on experience with UI implementation in Unity.
• Experience in implementing narrative in gameplay.
• Understand the unique needs and opportunities of PC and console game development.
• Enthusiasm for quality gameplay and familiarity with many games and genres, past and present.
• A passion for the video game industry and a desire to grow within it.
• Strong self-discipline, motivated, autonomous with a desire for excellence.
• Organized, detail-oriented, able to work quickly and freely or carefully with quality as needed.
• Courteous and patient, able to give and receive constructive and inspiring feedback with grace.
• Able to work effectively with people of varying personalities and backgrounds.
• Adaptable: Work can change as needed and requires different hats to be worn.
• Excellent problem solving skills, resourceful, able to find solutions when needed.
• Balance and prioritize tasks to meet deadlines, on time and on budget.
• Able to work remotely using various collaboration tools.
• Strong communication and presentation skills in written, oral and oral English.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Visio.
• Proficiency in graphic tools (Adobe or Corel) and design tools (eg Adobe XD, Figma, Sketch, UXPin).
• Passion to learn new tools and technologies.
• Authorized to work in the USA. H1B transfer and sponsorship are not available at this time.

Bonus points

• 3D modeling experience is a plus.
• Working knowledge of UML is a plus.

Interested? Apply now.

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