Technical Gameplay Designer (Player Abilities and Combat)

At Gardens Interactive, we believe that games have the power to connect people and foster meaningful relationships. Our studio is dedicated to creating critically acclaimed and commercially successful live-service games through a sustainable and collaborative development process.

As a Technical Gameplay Designer focused on Player Abilities and Combat, you will own player-facing gameplay features such as weapon, tool, item, and armor abilities, buffs, and modifiers that shape how players move through, interact with, and experience our world. Your work will contribute to combat, traversal, social, and other moment-to-moment gameplay systems, helping ensure our mechanics feel expressive, readable, and rewarding in a multiplayer environment.

While this is not a dedicated combat designer role, experience with and an understanding of combat design is important, as many of these abilities meaningfully influence combat feel, balance, and player expression.

A Day In The Life:

• Work in Unreal Engine, using Blueprints and other tools to design, prototype, and iterate on player abilities, such as weapons, tools, items, armors, buffs, and gameplay modifiers for an online multiplayer game.

• Implement and maintain gameplay features from early concept through polish in close collaboration with engineering and other technical design partners.

• Playtest, tune, and refine abilities that influence combat, traversal, exploration, social interactions, and player expression to support engaging and readable multiplayer experiences.

You Will:

• Align with leadership and management on creative goals and desired outcomes.

• Own the design and iteration of player-facing abilities and modifiers tied to weapons, tools, items, armors, and related systems.

• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary partners such as engineering, animation, audio, art, and VFX to align abilities with combat, traversal, progression, social goals, and technical constraints.

• Balance and tune gameplay features with an understanding of multiplayer dynamics and emergent player and multiplayer behavior.

• Advocate for the player experience, ensuring abilities feel intuitive, expressive, and fun over time.

You Bring:

• Passion for systemic gameplay and creating meaningful player expression through combinatoric and emergent gameplay mechanics.

• Senior-level experience designing gameplay mechanics, abilities, or progression features in shipped games.

• Technical experience working in Unreal Engine, including Blueprint scripting or gameplay systems frameworks.

• A solid understanding of combat design fundamentals, even if combat has not been your primary specialization.

• Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate design intent and tradeoffs.

• Thoughtful playtesting and iteration habits, balancing creative goals with system health and player experience.

Bonus Points:

• Experience working on multiplayer or live-service games, with an appreciation for iteration and long-term balance.

• Familiarity with layered gameplay mechanics such as buffs, passives, modifiers, or status effects.

The Team:

• This role reports to the Design Manager

Please Note: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States or Canada. Gardens cannot assist with work authorizations or work visas. The applicant must also be willing to work within North America time zones.

Who We Are

We're a game studio founded by the creators behind titles such as Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch, Blaseball, Dustforce, Ashen, Guild Wars 2, Firewatch, and more! Our name reflects our mission: to cultivate rich, immersive worlds that foster meaningful connections and lasting friendships. We believe in creating lush, living environments where players can engage in surprising multiplayer experiences and grow together with the support of their communities.

Our commitment to inclusivity and transparency drives us to create a work environment where every voice is heard and valued. We are a fully distributed and remote studio. We offer competitive pay, stock options, flexible non-accrual paid time off, and comprehensive benefits, including full medical, vision, dental, and 401k contributions.

We're excited to be developing our flagship title - a shared 3D fantasy adventure inspired by our favorite online gaming memories. This is the world we’re passionate about building and the world we want to experience every day.

Gardens Offers:

• Competitive Salaries and Pay Transparency

• Stock Options

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage (100% for Individuals and 90% for Dependents)

• Life Insurance, Short Term & Long Term Disability, and numerous other benefits

• 401k contributions (USA) / RRSP plan + DPSP contributions (Canada)

• Paid Parental Leave

• Biannual Company Retreats

• Continued Education Allowance

• A fully-distributed studio across North American Timezones (US & Canada)

Benefits and perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Gardens and the country in which you work.

Physical Requirements: This is a primarily sedentary, remote role requiring the ability to remain stationary and perform computer-based work for extended periods, including sustained use of monitors, keyboards, mice, and game controllers for six hours per day minimum, with prolonged visual focus on digital screens. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role. Gardens is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Encouragement:

We believe that diverse perspectives make our team stronger and our games better. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway. Studies show that marginalized groups, especially those of women and people of color, are less likely to apply unless they meet every criterion. At Gardens Interactive, we value potential, passion, and a willingness to grow. We hope you will join us in shaping the future of gaming.