Narrative Designer

About the Position

We are seeking a Narrative Designer to join our team and help create an immersive 13th-century world for our medieval sandbox game, Kinstrife. This is a full-time remote position based in Germany, offering a salary of €3600 – €4500 per month, with some flexibility based on seniority.

Responsibilities

• Define the experiential and emotional qualities of the game and ensure systems and content align with that vision.
• Iterate on core themes to ensure they resonate through gameplay rather than exposition.
• Develop player backstory, motivation, and the overarching narrative arc.
• Design quests and jobs that are reactive, multi-solution, and have long-term consequences.
• Build a game world that immerses players in 13th-century Germany, making the setting a work of art.
• Design companions and the player’s retinue with a focus on gameplay and choice.
• Shape the choice architecture and bring it to life for players.
• Develop worldbuilding, factions, and characters that give the world its identity.
• Design how players discover the world through interactions and observations.
• Turn historical source material into engaging, playable content.
• Brief, direct, and quality-gate contract writers to maintain the game’s vibe and flavor.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in designing worlds and quests for systemic, non-linear, and/or open-ended games.
• Great instincts for vibe, worldbuilding, and tone.
• Ability to think in systems and understand stories within gameplay structures.
• Skill in quickly identifying interesting and playable aspects of unfamiliar topics.
• Fundamental understanding of system design.
• Self-driven and team-oriented mentality.
• Fluent in English with clear documentation and collaboration skills.
• Passion for systemic, strategy-flavored RPGs.

Nice to Have

• Interest or deep knowledge of the medieval period or historical interest.
• Familiarity with Yarn Spinner or similar narrative/dialogue tools.
• Experience with Unity.
• German language ability.
• Strong writing skills to prototype voice/tone, write briefs, and set the bar for contract writers.

Portfolio

Please share examples of your design work, which may include:

• Design documentation (GDDs, system specifications, feature breakdowns)
• Case studies or postmortems explaining design challenges you’ve solved
• Narrative design work
• Links to shipped games with a brief explanation of your specific contributions
• Prototypes or design experiments (paper, digital, or video documentation)
• Slides or videos of conference talks

If your design work is under NDA, please describe 2-3 design problems you’ve solved and your approach to solving them in a general manner.

We Offer

• Competitive salary
• Fully remote work environment
• Opportunity to work on an innovative and engaging game

About the Company

Be sure to check out the overview for more information about working with us!