Game Designer Jobs

Sago Mini is an award-winning publisher of preschooler apps and toys worldwide. Supported by a team of artists, designers, developers, product managers, thinkers, and doers who are devoted to play. With over 100 million downloads, three subscription services, and 40+ apps, Sago Mini brings thoughtful design to life for kids and parents worldwide.

About You

You are an experienced game designer with an excellent portfolio of work that includes at least three shipped mobile or console titles. You are skilled at combining your own expertise with a deep empathy for players to create experiences that engage, surprise and delight. You are able to move between articulating a high-level game vision and digging into the details around level design and user interaction design. A strong collaborator, you have a solid understanding of game development tools and processes to productively engage with the team. You are very familiar with existing titles in the ‘cozy/wholesome games’ genre and can deftly pick apart the best examples in the category and speak to what makes them so successful. You have a strong sense of curiosity and are excited about the creative challenge of designing games that resonate with young children. You always strive for quality and are rarely satisfied with ‘good enough’.

About the Role

The game designer is responsible for the overall game play experience for a new title. This work encompasses designing the game structure, player controls, core loops, narrative, pacing and flow. The output of this work is in the creation of game design documents, mock-ups, wireframes, prototypes and animatics. You will have daily interactions with the art lead, UI designer, animator and game play developers. This role is suitable for candidates with experience working in mid-sized (10-25) teams.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Collaborating with the production manager to shape and evangelize the overall vision for the game play experience and break down the work into key milestones and phases.
• Presenting design concepts to the team and stakeholders and integrating feedback.
• Attending play testing sessions with parents and children, observing their behaviour and then integrating feedback.
• Creating and maintaining game design documentation including storyboards, flows, wireframes, visual design, specs, and paper/digital prototypes.
• Working collaboratively with the artists, copywriter, animator and developers to shape the game.
• Establishing game mechanics and controls with an emphasis on usability among young players.
• Leading 3d level design.

Qualifications and Skills

• While this is not a game developer role Unity/C# programming experience is considered an asset.
• Strong sense of inherently satisfying mechanics and crafting cohesive game play experiences.
• Skilled with tools including Unity, Git, Creative Suite and Figma.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Eagerness and drive to learn and develop skills.
• Playful creative sensibility that resonates with young players.
• A strong eye for visual and motion design.
• 5+ yrs of professional game design experience or a strong portfolio of equivalent work.

About the Process

• You’ll get an email response confirming we’ve received your application, and we’ll let you know within a few weeks if we’d like to schedule a follow-up.
• If the technical interview goes well, we have a last interview with potential colleagues to dive deeper prior to making a decision.
• If the assignment goes well, we’ll book a technical interview to discuss your homework assignment and other technical questions.
• If you’re moving ahead, we’ll book a call to learn more about your experience. Then we’ll send you a short homework assignment to get a better feel for your skillset.

We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Based in Toronto, Sago Mini is a subsidiary of Toca Boca, the No. 1 mobile-first kids brand in the App Store. Both companies are part of Spin Master Corp., a global children’s entertainment company that creates, designs and manufactures a diversified portfolio of innovative toys, games, products and entertainment properties. We hire humble, collaborative, and ambitious people who care about doing great work. Sago Mini is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity at our company.