About the role
This position has been closed or filled.
About the Project
When an ancient orb shatters over a tropical archipelago, a young apprentice recovers a fallen shard and begins uncovering its secrets. Master your class, battle through dungeons and raid bosses, and collect the remaining shards before a rogue sorceress finds them first, all in a single-player world that lives like an MMO.
Where We Are
The project is in pre-production. The world, themes, and high-level story beats are defined, and core systems are being built out. The project lacks a formalized combat direction, including pillars, conventions, and a class framework. The role involves guiding the team on best practices and helping define combat requirements. You would be joining at a formative stage where the combat pillars, progression philosophy, and class conventions will define the entire game.
About the Role
The goal is to define MMO-style combat for a single-player game, including class kits, rotations, cooldowns, and dungeon/raid-style encounter mechanics, supported by a party system utilizing the holy trinity of tank, healer, and damage. You will author a combat design foundation and grow into designing individual classes end to end.
Responsibilities
- Vision and pillars: Define the pillars of combat (pace, readability, challenge, player fantasy) and the conventions that keep every ability, enemy, and encounter consistent.
- Progression design: Define how player power and complexity grow over time: ability acquisition, talent trees, and how the combat experience evolves from the first hour to endgame.
- Class and ability design: Establish the class framework (roles, fantasies, resource models) with example ability kits and talent trees, then design full classes in later phases.
- Player expectations: Analyze how players in the genre think about class design, fantasy, and balance, and determine where to meet those expectations or break them.
- Systems collaboration: Partner with systems designers and engineers so combat, quest rewards, and progression reinforce each other.
- Documentation: Write clear, structured design documentation.
- Guidance: Advise on combat design process, tooling, and best practices.
Phases
Phase 1: Discovery (Fixed Contract)
- Get up to speed on the GDD, story outline, systems work, and intended fantasy. This phase concludes with a findings write-up including a read on combat vision, open questions, and a recommended plan for Phase 2.
Phase 2: Combat Pillars & Framework (Fixed Contract)
- Author the combat design foundation including:
- Combat vision document: Pillars, feel, fantasy targets, and conventions (readability, telegraphing).
- Progression framework: How power, abilities, and complexity unlock over time.
- Class framework: Roles, fantasies, and resource models.
- Example ability kits: Worked examples demonstrating conventions and synergy.
- Example talent trees: Worked examples showing structure, choice cadence, and reward philosophy.
- Tuning models: Spreadsheet models for power curves, damage, and resource baselines.
- Tooling: Identify tools and workflows to speed up prototyping and experimentation.
- Review: Iterate based on team feedback.
Phase 3: Class Design (Ongoing Contract)
- Design individual classes end to end: full ability kits, talent trees, rotations, and tuning targets.
- Conduct basic balance and tuning assessments.
- Identify ongoing tooling needs.
Qualifications
- 3-5+ years of game design experience with significant focus on combat or systems design.
- At least one shipped title or a substantial released project.
- Track record of authoring design foundations (vision docs, shipped combat systems, class designs, or talent trees).
- Deep fluency in class-based combat: ability kits, rotations, roles, resource models, and MMO-to-single-player translation.
- Ability to analyze fun and engaging combat and turn it into design decisions.
- Strong grasp of progression design: talent trees, power curves, and complexity ramps.
- Proficiency with spreadsheets (Excel or Google Sheets) for tuning models and balance math.
- Ability to weigh conflicting viewpoints, make recommendations, and commit to decisions.
- Collaborative attitude regarding feedback.
- Excellent documentation and communication skills.
- Experience working async and remote with a small team.
- Fluent in English (written and spoken).
Nice to Have
- Unity experience.
- Experience designing boss fights or enemy AI on a shipped action title.
- Background in MMOs, ARPGs, or other class-based, combat-dense genres.
- Experience with combat metrics, telemetry, and data-informed balancing.
- Trained eye for game feel: animation timing, hit reactions, and feedback.
Logistics
- Hours: Contract, part-time (est. 5-15 hours per week depending on phase).
- Rate: $60-75/hour.
- Schedule: Fully remote and largely asynchronous; manage your own time with occasional syncs.
- Communication: Primarily through written channels.
- Documentation/Tools: Notion for documentation, shared spreadsheets for tuning models.