Senior Gameplay Engineer

Makeshift Software; Columbus (OH); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

MOVE AI markerless + Z Cam E2-M4

Faceware Mark IV mocap helmets

Remote-first for 3–6 months

Hybrid on-site thereafter

Industry-grade workstation

Job summary

Makeshift Software Inc. is seeking an experienced Gameplay Engineer to own enemy AI, core gameplay systems, and UI architecture for Hexborn.

You will design intelligent combat encounters and robust systems that scale for raid-like content, balancing AI behavior with production-ready code and UI tooling. This remote-first, 3–6 month grace period then hybrid on-site role offers hands-on ownership, collaboration with designers and artists, and the chance to shape gameplay fundamentals in a small,

Qualifications

• Experience designing enemy AI and core gameplay systems.
• Proficiency with Unity UI workflows and tooling.
• Ability to translate encounter design into stable production code.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement enemy AI using Behavior Designer Pro and pathfinding techniques.
• Architect core gameplay systems using FSM, Singleton, and Manager patterns.
• Implement movement, combat, physics, and environmental interactions.
• Build and maintain UI using UGUI and UI Toolkit.
• Collaborate with designers and artists to realize encounter designs.
• Help establish gameplay architecture standards as the team grows.

Skills

Enemy AI

Gameplay systems

UI architecture

C# / Unity

AI design patterns

Tools

Behavior Designer Pro

A* Pathfinding Project

NavMesh

UI Toolkit

UGUI

Job description

Makeshift Software Inc. | Remote (3–6 months) → Hybrid On-Site Full-Time

About Hexborn

Hexborn is our upcoming dark fantasy action RPG — a brutal blend of hack-and-slash combat, deep dungeon crawling, guild progression, and player-driven rivalry set in a world consumed by an ever-expanding corruption known as the Graveglass Blight. Players rise from an unknown mage into the leader of a legendary guild, mastering arcane combat, recruiting allies, forging relics, and descending into cursed ruins and large-scale raids to uncover the truth behind their rare ability to fly.

The demo is live now on Steam.

We're a small, focused team building something that feels sharp and intentional under the hood as well as on screen. We need an engineer who can build enemy AI and core gameplay systems that hold up under raid-scale complexity, without turning into a tangle of special cases.

The Role

We're looking for an experienced Gameplay Engineer to own enemy AI, core gameplay systems, and UI architecture for Hexborn. You'll be building the behaviors that make combat encounters and raids feel intelligent and threatening, and the underlying systems — state machines, managers, physics-driven interactions — that keep everything else stable as the game grows in scope.

This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. You'll be designing AI behaviors, writing the systems-level code that everything else depends on, and building UI that holds up under real production pressure — not just prototyping in isolation.

What You'll Do

• Design and implement enemy AI using Behavior Designer Pro, A* Pathfinding Project (Aron Granberg), NavMesh, and Utility AI approaches to create combat encounters that read as intelligent and reactive
  
• Architect core gameplay systems using established game design patterns (FSM, Singleton, Manager Scene Pattern, and others) to keep the codebase maintainable as raid and dungeon content scales
  
• Implement gameplay mechanics that rely on solid vector math and 3D physics — movement, combat collision, knockback, projectile behavior, and environmental interactions
  
• Build and maintain UI using both UGUI and UI Toolkit, balancing legacy systems with newer Unity UI workflows
  
• Collaborate closely with combat designers, level designers, and artists to translate encounter design into performant, production-ready systems
  
• Help establish and maintain gameplay architecture standards as the team scales

Perks & Tools

• MOVE AI markerless + Z Cam E2-M4(s) motion capture system
  
• Faceware Mark IV mocap helmets for facial performance capture
  
• Industry-grade workstation, built to spec: see our standard build
  
• Remote-first for the first 3–6 months, transitioning to hybrid on-site thereafter

Work Arrangement

We'll start fully remote for a 3–6 month grace period while you ramp up and get embedded with the team, then transition to a hybrid on-site schedule.

Makeshift Software Inc. is the developer and publisher of Hexborn.