Senior Narrative Writer (Temp)

HellaGoodAudio; Los Angeles (CA); Remote; USD 95,000 - 115,000; Part time

Job summary

HellaGoodAudio seeks a contract Senior Narrative Writer to define the story of a new cozy life sim built on a globally loved brand. You’ll own the opening experience, story outline, cast, and early dialogue for a young adult audience, keeping a light, humorous, and hopeful tone.

You’ll craft the opening hook, town NPCs, character briefs, and initial dialogue/quest scripts, collaborating with design for in-engine implementation on a 12-week timeline.

Qualifications

• A Game Writer with professional writing credits on at least one game.
• Writer first; engine implementation not required.
• Life Sim literate; familiarity with cozy/slice-of-life games.
• Brand understanding; able to write within licensed IP guardrails.
• Clear, concise, humorous dialogue and storytelling.

Responsibilities

• Shape the Story Outline: create a deck and extended doc with opening hook, antagonist, and core villains.
• Build the Cast: town NPC list with metadata and registrar.
• Write Character Briefs: 5 detailed townfolk briefs.
• Draft the Opening Experience: first-time user experience story draft.
• Write Dialogue and Quest Scripts: mid-game dialogue and 1–2 simple quest scripts.
• Maintain a light, witty, hopeful tone and collaborate with leads for rapid iteration.

Skills

Game Writer

Strong Communicator

Self-Starter

Concise Writing

Humor with Heart

Life Sim Literate

Job description

Position Title: Senior Narrative Writer (Temp)

Studio/Department:Design

Employee Type: 6 week assignment

Location:Remote

Salary Range: $95,000 - $115,000

Description

We're seeking a contract Narrative Writer for a 12-week engagement to help define the story of a new, unannounced cozy life sim built on an iconic, globally loved brand. You'll write for a young adult audience (core 19-35) in a grounded, cozy town, where the tone is light, humorous, and ironic with a few intentional, heartfelt beats. This is a writing role, not an implementation role: you'll own the storyoutline, cast, opening experience, and early dialogue and quest scripts, and our game designers will bring them into the engine.

What You'll Do

• Shape the Story Outline: Create a story outline deck plus an extended doc version. Land a strong opening hook, a clear antagonist, and 1-2 core villains with complex, reasonable motivations.

• Build the Cast: Create a first-pass list of town NPCs with metadata and a town registrar.

• Write Character Briefs: Develop 5 detailed character briefs for key townsfolk.

• Draft the Opening Experience: Write a detailed first draft of the first-time user experience story.

• Write Dialogue and Quest Scripts: Write a handful of mid-game dialogue scripts and 1-2 simple quest scripts for our vertical slice area, ready for a game designer to implement.

• Hold the Tone: Keep writing light, witty, and hopeful

• Collaborate and Iterate: Partner with production and design leads, take feedback quickly, and revise to meet brand partner guidelines.

Who You Are

• A Game Writer: You have professional writing credits on at least one game.

• You're a writer first; engine implementation is not required.

• Life Sim Literate: You understand cozy and life sim games such as Stardew Valley, Palia, Animal Crossing, and Disney Dreamlight Valley, and how story drives their progression.

• Brand Enthusiast: You're genuinely excited to write for an iconic, aspirational brand.

• Funny with Heart: You write sitcom-style banter, irony, and situational humor, and can land a serious beat without tipping into darkness.

• Concise: You write tight, readable dialogue within strict length limits.

• Brand-Safe: You use sound judgment on tone and themes when writing within licensed IP guardrails.

• Self-Starter: You thrive in early, ambiguous development and deliver organized, high-quality docs on a fast 12-week timeline.

• Strong Communicator: You articulate story decisions clearly and give and receive feedback well.

• Nice to Have

• A deep understanding of games, including how narrative ties into quests, careers, and relationship systems.

• Experience writing for licensed IP and working through licensor reviews.

• Experience writing for short in-engine cinematics and voice-over.

• Experience writing for a young adult, primarily female audience.

**Ravenwake is an Equal Opportunity Employer.**