Important Details

• Contract: Part-time, project-based, 15 to 20 small games over 4 to 6 weeks (roughly 12 to 30 hours per week, depending on your schedule)
• Pay: $300 per finished game package, plus a paid $100 trial project to start
• Location: Remote, US-based
• Start: October 2026

We make coding classes for kids ages 7 to 11, and every class is a tiny arcade game built in Scratch. Kids code the game one small step at a time, then finish with a Hero challenge that puts it all together. We have 55 of these games in active classes and we need 15 to 20 more to build out the next semester. Some will start from concepts we hand you; for the rest, we want your ideas.

If you have ever built a game in Scratch that other people actually played, and you have opinions about what makes a 30-second game look and feel good, keep reading.

What you'll do

• Build small, polished Scratch games that play in a 30-second round and produce a high score. Some start from a concept we hand you (a mechanic or theme); others you pitch yourself, as long as they fit our rules and don't repeat a game we already have
• Break each game into a ladder of 5 to 8 bite-size challenges that build on each other step by step, ending in a Hero challenge that assembles the whole thing
• Build a starter Scratch file for every step, with sprites and backdrop in place and the previous step's code already done
• Take full-code and scrambled-code screenshots for every step so instructors can check work and kids can get a hint
• Write one-sentence, kid-facing instructions for each step
• Simplify ruthlessly. The rules are strict: no lists, no pen, no custom blocks, no extensions, no sound, no memory-sequence mechanics, no physics. We will send you the full allowed-block list
• Turn around one revision per game based on our feedback

What success looks like

• A 7 year old with an instructor nearby can finish each step in under 10 minutes and something is playable by step 3 or 4
• The game is fun in the first 10 seconds and a 30-second round is satisfying enough that kids want to beat their score
• Every step reuses the last one, and the Hero is assembly, not a new idea
• Zero blocks outside the allowed list
• 3 to 5 finished game packages a week, delivered on the schedule we agree on

About you

• You have built Scratch games before and can show us at least two
• You have taught, tutored, or watched kids ages 6 to 11 learn to code, and you know where they might get stuck
• You write clearly and briefly. Kids will read your instructions
• You are comfortable working from a spec and a rulebook, and you flag problems early instead of designing around them silently
• You have your own ideas for tiny games

Nice to have

• Classroom or after-school teaching experience with elementary students
• Game jam experience, or a habit of finishing tiny games
• Familiarity with how kids' coding platforms scaffold projects
• A Scratch profile with games other people have played and remixed

How to apply

Send us an email with the subject "Scratch Game Designer - [Your Name]" and include links to two Scratch games you have made, two or three sentences on your experience with kids and coding, and your availability over the next two months. Selected candidates get a short paid trial project ($100) before we commit to the full scope.