Game Level Designer

Description

The company is one of the largest independent mobile games makers in the world, with more than 2,500 people across 12 studios and several industry awards.

Its portfolio includes some of the biggest mobile games, many near the top of charts worldwide, reaching over 25 million daily active users.

This role is in PeopleFun, a Dallas-based studio run by games industry veterans. Its games are played by more than 25 million people each month, and several new mobile games are in development.

The New Games team makes original casual mobile games for a mass-market audience and measures success by one question: do players come back?

The team works hypothesis-first. It spots a market trend, works out why it is growing, builds a polished game to test the idea, and lets players decide what comes next.

You would join a small, senior-heavy incubation team and see your levels in front of real players within weeks rather than years. The role suits someone who enjoys level editors, generating ideas, and creating surprises that delight players.

Responsibilities

• Build and tune levels in Unity or the company's custom level editors, and use AI prompts to improve those tools as you work.
• Write the opening 20 minutes of brand-new games so the first experience is memorable, then build ramps of hundreds of levels that hold players for days, weeks or months.
• Plan player progression across the ramp by introducing new mechanics and setting difficulty pacing, with breathers after intentionally hard levels.
• Invent new goals, blockers and boosters for existing games and test them with sample puzzle layouts or vibe-coded prototypes. The team will show you how.
• Run playtests to find where players struggle or lose interest, then rebuild those levels.
• Review metrics for each level, such as attempts, win rate, completion time and drop-off, with data partners, and retune the ramp every release.
• Regularly play and break down popular casual games, and share the lessons that apply to the team's games.
• Keep shared documents on level design and intent, covering the featured mechanic, target difficulty and each level's metrics or analysis, so others can work on the ramp with you.
• Work with engineers on game improvements, including procedural and AI-assisted level generation.
• Work across two or more prototypes at different stages, and drop work quickly when a test calls for a pivot.

Requirements

• Either 2+ years of professional level design on casual games, or 3+ years of professional work in related disciplines on mobile games.
• Hands-on experience building levels in level editors.
• Working comfort with Unity and basic development tools such as source control.
• Working knowledge of level design basics: progression, pacing, difficulty curves and onboarding (FTUE).
• Proven ability to revise your own designs using playtest feedback.
• Clear written and spoken communication of design intent for working with artists, animators, engineers and product partners.
• You have shipped levels in a puzzle, word, block or match game and can share samples such as level breakdowns, ramp sheets or a portfolio.
• Experience reading level funnels and tuning from data, using tools such as Looker, BigQuery or Tableau.
• Experience prototyping mechanics with AI, on paper or in whitebox before engineering investment.
• Strong spreadsheet skills for authoring and tuning content, including formulas, ramp tables and parameter sheets.
• Experience taking a game from prototype through soft launch, or working on an incubation team.
• Scripting in C or Python, or experience with procedural or AI-assisted content generation.
• Experience designing or evaluating A/B tests on level content.
• Examples of small prototypes or useful tools you built with AI for fun or utility.
• A habit of playing current top-grossing casual games, explaining why they work, and identifying the most notable innovation.

Conditions

Hybrid schedule, working from the Dallas-area office.

Base salary range of $80,000 to $105,000.

Final pay depends on the specific position offered, along with a full range of medical and other benefits.

Pay is set by skills, experience, education, training, licenses and certifications where applicable, and by business needs.

All applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or other legally protected characteristics.

Benefits

• Flexible discretionary time off plus bank holidays.
• 401k match, discretionary bonuses and competitive salaries.
• Health cover: medical, dental and vision.
• Confidential employee assistance program for personal support.
• Ongoing professional development opportunities.
• Generous parental leave and a family-friendly culture.
• Yearly on-site events to celebrate achievements and team spirit.