THE OPPORTUNITY
As a Senior Technical Game Designer at Eleventh Hour Games, you will help design, implement, debug, and refine the gameplay systems and technical features that shape the player experience in Last Epoch. Working closely with design, engineering, and production, you will support both the long-term evolution of gameplay systems and the near-term need to improve, stabilize, and maintain existing features.
This role is ideal for someone who is systems-minded, has a deep understanding of top-down loot-driven action RPGs, is technically fluent, and is comfortable working inside complex interconnected systems. You should be able to diagnose issues, tune existing gameplay, improve system robustness, and eventually prototype and implement new features while keeping them scalable, maintainable, and aligned with the broader vision of the game.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Investigate, diagnose, and resolve issues in existing gameplay systems, including combat, progression, abilities, content setup, and moment-to-moment gameplay
- Improve the reliability, stability, and maintainability of complex interconnected systems
- Support bug fixing, tuning, debugging, and iteration across existing gameplay content
- Design, implement, and tune gameplay systems and features that support player experience and long-term engagement
- Work closely with engineering and design to bridge design intent with technical implementation
- Prototype gameplay features directly in engine using scripting, visual scripting, or available design tools
- Create clear technical design documentation, specs, logic flows, bug notes, and implementation details
- Identify technical risks and constraints early, and help shape practical, high-quality solutions
- Partner with production to scope work appropriately and manage risks around quality, timeline, and maintainability
- Use feedback, bugs, and live data to improve systems over time
- Help raise the quality bar for technical design through ownership, problem solving, and collaboration
QUALIFICATIONS:
- 5+ years of experience in technical design, systems design, game design, or a closely related role on shipped games
- Strong understanding of top-down action RPGs, including systems, itemization, progression, abilities, combat flow, and underlying architecture
- Hands-on experience debugging, tuning, and improving existing gameplay systems
- Experience implementing gameplay features directly in engine using scripting, visual scripting, or equivalent tools
- Strong understanding of gameplay systems design, including progression, combat, balance, and player-facing mechanics
- Ability to communicate clearly through documentation, implementation notes, bug reports, and cross-functional collaboration
- Experience working closely with engineers to develop, improve, and ship gameplay systems
- Strong debugging, problem-solving, and iteration skills
- Familiarity with Unreal, Unity, or similar game engines
- Ability to own features or areas of work end-to-end with limited guidance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Direct ARPG development experience
- Experience supporting live games or systems requiring long-term iteration
- Familiarity with balance tuning, gameplay metrics, and data-informed design
- Experience improving internal workflows and iteration speed
- Strong understanding of itemization, progression systems, and action RPG combat design
- Experience improving stability and quality in existing systems before expanding into new feature development