About the role
Employment Details
- Employment: Contract, Full Time
- Location: Remote (physically in Los Angeles and Saint Louis)
- Time: Minimum 3-month contract
About Us
Definitely Games is a tiny studio focused on making cooperative multiplayer games. Founded by Casey Pugh (Wavelength, co-founder of VHX, acquired by Vimeo, Star Wars Uncut) and Charlie Tran (lead engineer at Parsec, acquired by Unity). We are a couple of game nerds with decades of design and software engineering experience.
The Game
For the past 6 months, we have been prototyping an unannounced 1 to 4 player online co-op mining and extraction game in the style of a 2D pixel art game. Think Sea of Thieves meets Dome Keeper. You and your crew drive a modular drill-ship deep into the earth, mining resources, managing fuel, and getting out before it is too late.
It is built entirely in Godot, it is already fun to play today, and now we need to refine the look.
The Role
You will be our first full time artist, and you will work with the team to hone in on the game's look. That means setting the visual direction, then making most of it yourself. You will work on everything, from character design and environments to UI and monsters. You will collaborate with the team and you will have real ownership of the art.
Most of the game currently uses our own hand-drawn assets with some off-the-shelf tilesets. As we aim to go into a private alpha soon, we really want to nail the world we are building with a more cohesive artistic vision.
What You Will Do
- Set the art direction: style frames, color, mood, and a simple style guide
- Create in-game assets: environments, the drill-ship and its cars, characters, creatures, props, and VFX
- Design the game menus and any in-world UI
- Work in Godot to get assets in, lit, and looking right in the actual game
- Make marketing art with us: screenshots, trailer moments, and key art for the store page
- Help decide what to outsource later, and keep it consistent when we do
You Might Be A Fit If
- You have shipped at least one game, ideally indie, co-op, or systems-heavy
- Your portfolio shows a distinct style and range (environments plus characters or props) with an emphasis on pixel art
- You are fast, and comfortable with "good now, polished later"
- You are happy working in-engine, not just handing off files
- You like small teams and making calls without a lot of process
- You have leveraged AI to streamline workflows
- You are comfortable wearing lots of hats
Nice to Have
- Godot experience
- Animation or VFX skills
- Capsule or key art experience
- You love co-op games
How It Works
We start with a paid two week trial project (style frames plus one playable area) so we can see how we work together. If it clicks, we move to an ongoing contract with a path to full-time.
How to Apply
Send your portfolio, a couple of games you have worked on (and what you did on them), and a line or two about a co-op game you love through our application form.
We Are Artists First
We use AI agents like Claude to help with coding, testing, and creating placeholder assets. We intend to ship the game without any AI-generated art, and need the taste and craft of a talented artist to create the game's look, which is why we need you.