Location: Berlin, Germany
Contract type: On-Payroll, Full-time (40h/week), fixed-term contract (with a strong possibility of extension or conversion to permanent employment based on performance and project requirements)
Expected Start Date: 01.07.2026
The Game Designer is responsible for designing and iterating gameplay systems and player-facing features for Suzerain: Project Vanguard. This role shapes how player decisions are presented, processed, and reflected across the campaign, ensuring that mechanics, pacing, and reactivity support a coherent and engaging experience within the Suzerain format. The Game Designer works closely with narrative, UX, technical, production, and QA counterparts from concept through implementation.
Responsibilities
- Design and iterate core gameplay systems and player-facing features for Suzerain: Project Vanguard, aligned with the Suzerain format and the new country setting.
- Define decision structures and consequence logic in collaboration with the Lead Writer and Narrative Designer, ensuring choices are clear, readable, and meaningful.
- Specify key variables, state changes, triggers, and outcomes that drive reactivity across events, scenes, and long-term narrative arcs.
- Develop and balance progression, pacing, difficulty, and resource pressures to support a cohesive campaign experience.
- Collaborate with UX and UI to shape information hierarchy, decision presentation, and player feedback loops across interfaces.
- Produce clear and structured design documentation and implementation briefs, including feature specifications, flow diagrams, and acceptance criteria.
- Prototype and validate mechanics or content structures through lightweight prototypes or in-tool test setups to reduce risk and clarify design intent.
- Work closely with technical teams to ensure feasibility, maintainability, and clean integration of systems and content within the project’s tooling and pipeline.
- Partner with Production and QA to plan playtests, triage issues, and iterate based on build feedback and player experience findings.
- Track tasks and maintain design documentation using Codecks, Notion, and Miro, keeping decisions and specifications current and accessible.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
- Proven experience as a game designer on narrative-driven and/or systems-focused games.
- Strong understanding of decision-based design, state management, and consequence-driven gameplay.
- Ability to translate high-level design goals into clear, implementable systems and specifications.
- Experience collaborating closely with writers, narrative designers, UX, engineers, and producers.
- Strong analytical and balancing skills related to pacing, progression, and player pressure.
- Clear written communication skills and experience producing structured design documentation.
- Comfort working with task tracking and documentation tools in a production environment.
Preferred qualifications
- Prior experience working on Suzerain or familiarity with its design format and systems.
- Experience designing political, strategy, or simulation-driven gameplay.
- Familiarity with UI-heavy or text-forward game interfaces.
- Experience iterating on live or content-heavy projects within milestone-driven schedules.
Benefits
- Health & Wellbeing: Free Urban Sports Club membership (Berlin employees).
- Transport: Fully covered Deutschland-Ticket (Berlin employees).
- Flexible Hours: Start your day between 8:00 and 10:00 CET, with core working hours from 10:00 to 15:00 CET.
- Hybrid Work: Work 3 days in the office and 2 days remotely (Berlin employees).
- Work from Abroad: Up to 10 remote working days per year outside Germany (employees).
- Team Events: Regular team events and access to the NLND community network.
- Feedback & Growth: Regular feedback and development sessions.
- Annual Bonus: Performance-based bonus.
- Vacation: 24 paid vacation days per year (full-time employees).
