Senior Combat Designer - Unannounced Project

Lightfox Games; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision/dental coverage

401(k) matching

Commuting benefits

Equity

Job summary

Lightfox Games in Seattle, WA is seeking a Senior Combat Designer for a mobile title under a world-class IP. The role is hybrid, based in our downtown Seattle office with about 50% in-person time.

You will lead combat design, balancing, and iteration, collaborating closely with Engineering, Level Design, and Art to deliver a polished, ship-ready experience. Strong, shipped-title ownership and Unity proficiency are required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional game development with senior combat design ownership on a shipped title.
• Strong portfolio showing combat, encounter, and enemy design with clear intent.
• Hands-on experience implementing combat in a game engine, ideally Unity.
• Deep understanding of combat feel, player psychology, and tuning for broader goals.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills in small, fast-moving teams.
• Self-motivated with ownership in early-stage environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop and iterate on player abilities, enemy behavior, encounter structure, and feedback loops.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Level Design, and Art to ship polished combat.
• Define and tune combat feel, timing, pacing, and difficulty curves.
• Build and maintain combat design documentation and best practices.
• Playtest and analyze combat using qualitative and data-driven methods.
• Partner with Systems Design to align combat with progression, economy, and live ops.

Skills

Combat design

Enemy design

Encounter design

Player psychology

Balancing & tuning

Tools

Unity

Job description

Lightfox Games is seeking a talented and enthusiastic Senior Combat Designer to join our Seattle, Washington based team to work on an unannounced mobile game for a world-class IP and Publisher. This role is hybrid out of our downtown Seattle office, with approximately 50% of time expected in-person.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Combat Lead and Combat Team to develop and iterate on player abilities, enemy behavior, encounter structure, and player feedback loops
• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Level Design, and Art to bring combat from prototype to polished, shippable state
• Define and iterate on the combat feel, tuning timing, pacing, responsiveness, and difficulty curves to deliver satisfying moment-to-moment gameplay
• Build and maintain combat design documentation, standards, and best practices that scale with the team
• Playtest and analyze combat extensively, using both qualitative feedback and player data to drive iteration
• Partner with Systems Design to ensure combat integrates cohesively with progression, economy, and live ops frameworks

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional game development experience, including senior-level ownership of combat design on at least one shipped title
• Strong portfolio or shipped work demonstrating deep combat design craft: ability, encounter, and enemy design with clear design intent
• Hands-on experience implementing and iterating on combat directly in a game engine, ideally Unity
• Deep understanding of combat feel, player psychology, difficulty tuning, and how combat systems support broader game design goals
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, comfortable working cross-functionally in small, fast-moving teams
• Self-motivated and comfortable with ownership in an ambiguous, early-stage environment

Nice to Have

• Experience designing combat for mobile free-to-play games
• Experience with ARPG combat systems, including ability design, cooldown structures, and build diversity
• Experience designing combat for isometric, top-down, or strategy game camera perspectives Yes, I have experience designing combat for isometric, top-down, or strategy game camera perspectives
• Experience working within an established IP or licensed property
• Experience leveraging AI tools to accelerate combat prototyping, tuning, or documentation workflows

Compensation

US$120,000 – US$145,000 depending on experience, plus health/vision/dental coverage, 401(k) matching, commuting benefits, and equity.