We need a game designer who actually plays casual F2P mobile games not someone who tolerates them but someone who genuinely loves them. Youll design new mechanics and improve existing ones for Good Pizza Great Pizza (300M downloads) and latest title Good Coffee Great Coffee. Youll work on game economy progression balance and feature design while keeping two things in constant tension: whats best for our players and whats sustainable for our business.

If youve ever rage-quit a casual game because an update nerfed something you loved or stopped playing because the economy felt like a trap that is good. We want someone who designs with players not against them.

About TapBlaze

Our mission is to create memorable entertainment experiences for players around the world. Our vision is to become one of the worlds leading entertainment companies. As a self-funded independent studio we only answer to our players - not investors not publishers. Good Pizza Great Pizza has been downloaded more than 300 million times and we did it with a small focused team.

Our core values drive everything we do:

• We are ambitious. We aim to build games that are remembered for decades.

• We are disciplined. We make deliberate well-reasoned decisions.

• We are ownership-minded. If its your area you own it the wins and the problems.

• We are results oriented. We measure success by what ships and what players experience.

• We are extra-ordinary. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than the industry expects of a studio our size.

We are seeking individuals that share these values and are looking to level up themselves the games they work on and the company they work for. Only with great attention to details can this be achieved. Please include the phrase beauty is in the details in your cover letter.

What Youll Do

Design New Game Mechanics & Features

• Concept prototype and iterate on new gameplay mechanics for Good Pizza Great Pizza and Good Coffee Great Coffee with an emphasis on casual cozy and narrative-driven experiences.

• Design LiveOps events seasonal content and limited-time features that drive engagement without burning out our player base.

• Create wireframes design documents and prototypes that communicate your intent clearly to engineering and art.

Game Economy & Balance

• Design and maintain in-game economies (currencies pricing upgrade costs cooldowns sink/source balance) with a long-term sustainable mindset.

• Model the downstream effects of economy decisions. If you make something free or cheap today what does that mean for monetization six months from now

• Set up progression curves upgrade cost scaling and cooldown systems that feel fair to players while preserving room for meaningful monetization.

• Regularly audit existing economy systems and propose rebalancing when something is off with a clear plan for how changes affect current players.

Improve Existing Designs Without Alienating Players

• When improving or rebalancing existing features think carefully about what players are already accustomed to. Changes that take away things players rely on require extra care communication framing and often compensating value elsewhere.

• Use player feedback reviews community sentiment and analytics data to understand how players actually experience your designs not just how you intended them to work.

• Identify design debt (overly generous rewards unsustainable economies features that dont scale) and create migration plans that respect the player relationship.

Research & Player Empathy

• Play and deeply analyze casual games across genres Match-3 Time Management Simulation Indie Cozy Narrative on an ongoing basis.

• Develop a strong mental model of TapBlazes player base: who they are what they value what frustrates them and what makes them engaged with our games.

• Conduct market research and competitive analysis translating insights into actionable feature recommendations.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (engineering art QA marketing) to ensure designs are player-centric and technically feasible.

Who You Are

• 3 years of experience designing casual F2P mobile games. Casual mobile specifically.

• At least one shipped casual mobile game currently live on the App Store or Google Play that you had significant design ownership over.

• You actively play casual F2P mobile games in your personal time. You can talk at length about whats working and whats broken in games like Merge Mansion Royal Match Hay Day Stardew Valley mobile and similar titles. Do not apply if you dont regularly play casual F2P games.

• Proven experience with game economy design. Sink/source modeling currency systems upgrade cost curves cooldown tuning and understanding how all of those interact over a players lifetime.

• Strong player empathy. You can articulate how a design decision will feel from the players perspective not just how it looks on a spreadsheet. You understand the psychology of casual cozy and narrative-driven game players.

• Long-term systems thinking. You consider the 6-month and 12-month consequences of your designs especially around monetization headroom and economy sustainability.

• Clear design documentation skills. Wireframes GDDs flowcharts economy models that other team members can execute from.

• Bachelors degree in Game Design Mathematics Economics Psychology or related field (Masters preferred)

• Great attention to details - you read the full job description.

Strong Pluses:

• Experience with UI/UX design or strong opinions about how interface design affects player behavior and comprehension.

• Experience with data analytics tools; you can look at retention curves conversion funnels and ARPDAU data and know what it means for your designs.

• Coding or prototyping experience - (Unity Claude spreadsheets with formulas scripting) enough to model and test your own ideas before handing off to engineering.

• Experience designing for narrative-driven or cozy game genres specifically.

• Familiarity with A/B testing and LiveOps in a live mobile game environment.

Location & Work Environment

• Los Angeles CA: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work;

• Prolonged period of time sitting at a desk and computer.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $75000 to $100000 per year depending on experience.

Commitment to Diversity

As an equal opportunity employer committed to meeting the needs of a multigenerational and multicultural workforce TAPBLAZE recognizes that a diverse staff reflective of our community is an integral and welcome part of a successful and ethical business. We hire local talent at all levels regardless of race color religion age national origin gender gender identity sexual orientation or disability and actively foster inclusion in all forms both within our company and across interactions with vendors and partners.

If this position caught your eye send us your resume! For best consideration include a cover letter in your application explaining why you would be a great fit.

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Required Experience:

Senior IC