Important Details

• Role: Game Programmer on Blanksword
• Location: Fully Remote
• Type: Contract, ~20 hours a week (so, somewhere around strong part-time to light-fulltime depending on your point of view)
• Engine: Game Maker (prior experience with Game Maker is not mandatory for this position)
• Pay: 1500€/month 
• Duration: Start ASAP, end December 2027

Hi!

Leaf Let here, I’m the co-director of a video game called Blanksword. Our game is a Roguelike RPG where you play as an Angel that got his brain destroyed by a mysterious rival and reconstructs himself over the course of the game as he rises against a tyrannical god. We have an in-depth turn-based battle system, a “brain part swapping” mechanic that lets you equip different Brain Loadouts from Brain Parts found on your travels before every Run, and a character-driven story with lots of sweat and love poured into it.

We ran a successful Kickstarter last year and have a free playable Steam Demo if you’d like to see how the project was doing in mid-2025 (we’ve made a lot of progress since then!). We have recently been able to secure additional funding for development, and as a result, we’re able to look for a programmer to work on the game with us over the next year and a half.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a programming generalist that is comfortable juggling between different areas, including but not limited to systems, gameplay implementation, procgen, UI work and testing/bugfixing (with help and supervision from our programming lead, you won’t be doing this on your own!). You’re most likely going to work on most if not all areas of the game at some point.

Please note that while experience with Gamemaker is welcome, it is not mandatory: the ideal candidate for this position is someone that has a good programming foundation and has the versatility to tackle a large variety of problems and find robust solutions for them. If your portfolio and experience demonstrate this kind of flexibility and autonomy, we would absolutely love to hear from you even if you never touched Gamemaker in your life.

Please not that this isn’t an entry-level position - I’d personally really love to welcome (paid) interns and entry-level team members for the projects I’ll be working on in the future, and I think there’s a genuine problem with the shortage of these positions in the industry right now. Unfortunately, Blanksword simply isn’t the right project for a role like this at this point in time.

(Hang in there, youngsters… Your time will come, I promise…) 

Candidates from marginalized backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply, our team is predominantly queer and/or disabled :]

Requirements

• You have at least 2-3 years of professional experience as a programmer (preferably in games), and you worked on at least 1 commercial game.
• You have experience in at least 1 (preferably more) of the following areas: 
  • JRPG systems
  • Roguelike systems / procedural generation
  • Game UI
• You’re a good communicator - you’re able to verbalize what’s going well, but also what’s not going well, and you’re quick to reach out when you run into a problem or when you identify a roadblock. 
• You don’t mind (constructive) criticism and feedback and you understand that these are a natural component of teamwork.
• You’re comfortable with deadlines and time-sensitive assignments. You know to prioritize and organize your time autonomously to take care of the most important tasks first.

Nice to Have

• You like/are knowledgeable with JRPGs, turn-based games, roguelikes, strategy games and/or obscure, niche indie games.
• You have experience with Game Maker.
• You like Blanksword and/or have a burning hatred for landlords.

To Apply

Please send us an email with your resume / CV / portfolio and introduce yourself however you like. If you tried the Blanksword Demo/checked our Kickstarter, we’d love to know your thoughts :]