Senior Roguelike Systems Designer

AstroNomad Studios; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

AstroNomad Studios in Seattle is seeking a Senior Systems Game Designer to architect, prototype, tune, and connect gameplay systems with a roguelike focus on build variety, progression, and replayability.

This hands-on role demands translating creative direction into clear systemic rules, data structures, and specs, and collaborating with engineers, art, animation, and production to ensure systems are readable, extensible, and ship-ready.

Qualifications

• Experience designing roguelike/roguelite systems.
• Ability to translate creative direction into systemic rules.
• Strong communication and documentation skills.
• Experience prototyping and tuning in a game engine.
• Familiar with data-driven design and balance.

Responsibilities

• Architect, model, and balance interconnected gameplay systems, including combat rules, traversal, abilities, upgrades, encounters, resources, progression, reward economies, and run structure.
• Design systems that support roguelike/roguelite replayability, including buildcraft, synergies, risk/reward choices, intra-run progression, meta-progression, procedural variation, and difficulty escalation.
• Translate creative direction into clear systemic rules, player verbs, constraints, feedback loops, tuning targets, data structures, and implementation-ready specs.
• Work closely with leadership, engineering, level design, animation, art, and production to make sure systems are fun, readable, extensible, and buildable.
• Create precise, practical design documentation, tuning tables, state-machine breakdowns, economy models, and balance notes that help the team make decisions and implement features.
• Prototype, test, tune, and refine mechanics based on feel, readability, pacing, replayability, systemic depth, and production realities.
• Partner with engineers and technical designers to implement and iterate systems in-engine, with Unreal Engine experience especially valuable.
• Identify design risks early and help propose focused, achievable solutions that preserve depth without creating unnecessary complexity.
• Support the creation of a game that rewards curiosity, mastery, movement, exploration, experimentation, and player discovery.

Skills

Systems thinking

Roguelike/roguelite design

Prototyping

Documentation & specs

Communication

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

AstroNomad Studios in Seattle is seeking a Senior Systems Game Designer to architect, prototype, tune, and connect gameplay systems with a roguelike focus on build variety, progression, and replayability.

This hands-on role demands translating creative direction into clear systemic rules, data structures, and specs, and collaborating with engineers, art, animation, and production to ensure systems are readable, extensible, and ship-ready.