Senior Game Designer

Ludaxis.io; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Ludaxis.io is seeking a Senior Game Designer to own the core loops, progression, and economy of a music-driven puzzle game. You will prototype quickly, tune the player progression, and iterate based on retention data and player feedback.

Collaboration with engineers, artists, and audio will be essential to ship end-to-end features for mobile or console platforms. You have shipped titles, understand pacing and difficulty curves, and thrive in ambiguity with a small, autonomous team.

Qualifications

• You have shipped multiple titles and owned core design of systems and mechanics.
• You can build and tune levels, progression, and difficulty until the climb feels right.
• You read retention data and player feedback to drive design decisions.
• You prototype quickly in Unity or Unreal and ship features end-to-end.
• You are comfortable with ambiguity, autonomy, and a small team.

Responsibilities

• Own the core game loops, progression, and economy.
• Prototype fast and turn concepts into playable builds.
• Collaborate with engineers, artists, and audio to ship features.
• Tune puzzles for retention and player flow.
• Iterate using data like retention curves.

Skills

Game design

Level design

Analytics

Prototype in Unity/Unreal

Cross-functional collaboration

Platform knowledge

Systems thinking

AI-assisted development

Critical thinking

Autonomy

Education

Game design degree

Tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Job description

The puzzle is the instrument.

What you’ll own

The core game — loops, progression, economy: the systems that decide whether players stay in flow or quietly drop off. You’ll turn “music + puzzle as one system” from a sentence into something millions of people feel. You’ll prototype fast, read the retention curve like sheet music, and make the hard call every time: ship it, tune it, or kill it. Ideas earn their place on the data, not in a deck.

You

• Have shipped multiple titles and owned core design — systems and mechanics — on at least one
• Build and re-tune levels, difficulty curves, and progression until the climb feels right
• Read the retention curve and player feedback alike, and turn both into clear design calls
• Prototype fast and hands-on in Unity or Unreal — playable in days, not weeks — and aren’t precious about killing your own ideas
• Ship features end to end with engineers, artists, and audio, from concept to release
• Know mobile and/or console cold: their constraints, inputs, and what players expect
• Have torn apart more game systems than you can count, just to see how they tick
• Use AI to code and build — it’s already part of how you work, on every new problem
• Frame trade-offs in a sentence, document the rationale, and raise the people around you
• Are at home with ambiguity, autonomy, and a small team that moves

Also useful

Bonus points for free-to-play economy or LiveOps experience, spreadsheet fluency, an eye for UX, and a feel for music theory or rhythm. A degree in game design or CS is welcome — but the work speaks louder.

Why Ludaxis

A founder who’s spent 10+ years shipping F2P hits. The backing of Amanotes. Real ownership of a real game from day one. And a studio quietly obsessed with craft — flow, near-miss pacing, designed difficulty, the details that separate good from great.

If music-driven puzzle design is the thing you can’t stop thinking about, let’s talk.