This is an extremely unique opportunity, an unconventional dream role that would be perfect for an experienced and technical indie game maker who loves rolling up their sleeves and owning the game making process from A to Z.

As the first in-house Game Maker Generalist, you’ll have ownership over a thriving novel game with a dedicated player base and take the full lead over its ongoing development, channeling your passion and creativity into a game that’s already well-loved by masses of players—and most importantly, taking it to the next level. Think of this as the ultimate role for a passionate indie game maker, but with the structure, speed, and support of a breakout startup team. You’ll work autonomously to ideate, design, build, and improve the game, handling everything from gameplay mechanics, game development, and art direction to analytics and player engagement.

What You'll Do

• Game Ownership: Take the lead on the creative and technical ownership of a widely popular daily game, steering its evolution and keeping the player experience at the heart of every decision.
• Design & Development: Conceptualize and implement new game mechanics, features, and systems that keep players engaged, retained, and thrilled.
• Prototyping: Rapidly test and iterate on ideas to explore new directions with the team.
• Art & Sound: Handle basic art and sound design direction needs to bring new features and mechanics to life.
• Analytics: Track key performance metrics (DAUs, engagement, retention, etc.) and use data to make informed decisions about game improvements.
• Player Engagement: Engage with a passionate player community and partner with mods and community managers to leverage player feedback and refine gameplay to ensure the game stays fun, challenging, and polished.
• Self-Directed Execution: Work autonomously, embracing ownership and accountability for the full stack game making cycle from big-picture visioning and strategy to individual functional and technical details.
• Leverage Your Network: Tap into your roster of trusted indie specialists whom you’ve worked with before—artists, sound designers, or other collaborators—to bring in extra support when needed while staying hands-on as the primary game maker.

What We're Looking For

• Indie Game Expertise: You’ve built and shipped multiple successful games as an indie developer and understand the full end-to-end process.
• True Generalist: You’re skilled in design, development, art, sound, and even light marketing UA and analytics.
• Prototyping Speed: You can turn ideas into playable experiences quickly and iteratively, using tools like Unity, Godot, or web-based and mobile technologies (e.g., React, WebGL, React Native, etc.).
• Data-Driven Mindset: You’re comfortable diving into metrics and using data to guide your decisions.
• Creative Vision: You have a sharp eye for game mechanics and systems that are simple, addictive, and endlessly replayable.
• Hands-On Maker: You thrive in a hands-on role and love rolling up your sleeves to make things happen.
• Independent Spirit: You enjoy working autonomously and can handle all aspects of game development on your own.
• Love for Games: You’re deeply passionate about games, and when you’re not making new games, you’re playing a long roster of games created by others that you can critique.

Awesome if You Also Have

• Deep love for puzzle games, strategy games, roguelites, turn-based games and similar genres, and always evaluating games with a player-first mentality.
• A portfolio of side projects that show your passion for experimentation and creativity.
• Experience with procedural generation in games.
• Excitement about AI and its impact on the future of strategy games.
• Analytics or product experience in web games and/or consumer apps.

Why This is Your Dream Job

• Creative Freedom: be the core lead of a successful game, with the autonomy to shape its future.
• Focus on Making: skip the stress of running a business, finding funding, getting your first critical mass of players.
• Player-Obsessed Culture: Join a small world-class team that’s deeply committed to delivering fun, challenging experiences for players around the world.

Everyone here is a builder, and we love shipping delighful games that people around the world love to play every day. If you’re excited to shape the future of gaming, come join us on this mission to build your life’s work with us.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and generous equity package.
• Great remote-friendly office space with the best of what tech and gaming have to offer.
• Joining the early team of a breakout startup with massive potential to directly shape the company’s direction with your work.
• Being part of a rocketship funded by the world’s best investors in the field. Nuff said.
• Professional development and opportunities to grow within the company.
• Creative and entrepreneurial working environment where you’re encouraged to think out of the box and bring new ideas to life.
• Yearly personal development stipend to use however you see fit (so you can farm proper stats other than your ELO).
• Yearly personal gaming equipment stipend + yearly Discord Nitro upgrades (to finally git gud at all those games you keep buying).
• Unlimited Paid Time Off.
• 100% coverage for top-tier health insurance.

Location

We’re ideally looking for teammates in Los Angeles or San Francisco with a preference for hybrid work, but all California-based or US remote folks are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

If you’re excited about building the next big thing in gaming and have a deep passion for creating memorable experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Shoot us a note with your resume and LinkedIn profile to join us on this exciting journey!

Echo Chess is proud to celebrate diversity and we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.