DeGDP is looking for a game system designer and puzzle designer to contribute to a game project about eco-catastrophe based on incremental mechanics that grow from within an  agricultural life simulator.

This role will have ownership over the social relationship mechanics of the game. Social mechanics will help drive a narrative where events and outcomes depend partly on a player's interactions with NPCs, as well as on ecological and economic game systems.

The ideal candidate has experience working on narrative rich games and designing puzzles and/or social simulation systems, especially in team-based development environments. This role will also be expected to help address overall game balance, integrating the social mechanics with the progression of the game's environmental and economic simulations.

The candidate should be able to produce design documents and prototypes, and will be expected to regularly communicate with the larger team about their process and progress. Depending on the skillset of the candidate, the role will be extended to include implementation and testing of features in-engine, through programming work and/or dialogue writing. 

This is a short-term, fully-remote contractor position, with the length/scope of role to be discussed in interview. Compensation $40-50/hour. 

Ideal candidate:

• Able to meet during North American business hours
• Shipped at least one game with puzzle design, specifically with narrative and/or social deduction elements (can include analog game design work), or portfolio with strong personal or jam projects reflecting experience in the genre 
• Strong written and verbal, technical and non-technical communication skills; works well asynchronously with a small distributed team
• Ability to work collaboratively with other designers, engineers, and academics
• Organized, responsible, and able to work independently
• Able to identify and follow through on proposed work timelines

Pluses: 

• Skill and experience with scenario and dialogue writing
• C# experience, particularly MonoGame
• Experience working on games with simulation mechanics 
• Experience working on a large-scale game mod (i.e., total conversion mod)

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and maintain design documentation for the game
• Prototype and work with team on social puzzle design
• Become familiar with existing game systems and their behavior
• Identify issues with game balance and game system integration and propose possible solutions to team members 
• Collaborate with other team members and communicate clearly about design processes

Current game project

DeGDP is an academic research and design team affiliated with University of Chicago, University of Toronto-Mississauga, and University of Basel. We use games and game design to explore the economic and environmental question of degrowth: a philosophical, cultural, and social movement that aims to bring about conditions of human and nonhuman flourishing without presupposing indefinite economic growth.

Inspired by practices of reuse and appropriation, the current project explores this topic through a standalone mod of an existing farming simulation game. This project is a total overhaul of the base game’s narrative and gameplay systems that plays with and reworks the role of growth – economic and agricultural – in the original. The goal is to foreground the possibilities of alternative eco-social frameworks to the present growth paradigm, and to demonstrate the promise of games and game design as a way to experiment with real-world futures.

How to Apply 

Please submit your application, including a cover letter briefly expressing your experience and interest in this position, responses to the questionnaire below, and a resume with links to your portfolio.

Please do not use generative AI tools to write your application materials; doing so will disqualify you.

Questionnaire

For the below questions, explain your reasoning and thought processes as clearly and concisely as possible. Please include the question itself above your response text so it is easy to match the questions with your answers.

• What is a feature or system that you were responsible for designing that you are particularly proud of? What did the design process look like? Who was involved? Why are you particularly proud of that feature?
• What is a game that you felt had an amazing social simulation and narrative system? What did you find so compelling? How did the social mechanics contribute? How did other elements or game systems interact with it? What would you have added or changed?
• Lots of games feature systems that make growth feel rewarding for players in different ways. What is an example of a game (one you were involved in or one you have played) that has a satisfying form of progression that doesn't involve numerical increase (i.e. score goes up, territory expands, unlocked upgrades)? What makes it effective? Is there something you would like to change or add to that system of progression? 

Note: credit to Beef Noodle Studios for this JD template.