Principal Game Designer

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>Who We Are: </strong></p> <p>Gram Games is the studio behind popular titles like 1010!, Six!, Merge Dragons!, and Merge Magic!, with more exciting projects in the pipeline. We are proudly part of the Zynga &amp; Take-Two Interactive family. We do things differently here: we work in small self-managing teams, giving you an incredible amount of ownership, autonomy, and impact.&nbsp;</p> <p>At Gram, everyone is expected to have a razor-sharp focus on creating a tangible impact on their team, their work environment, and on the overall company strategy. If you are motivated by autonomy, constant improvement, collaboration, and a sense of belonging, this is the place for you.</p></div><h4><strong>Position Overview:</strong></h4> <p>As the Lead Game Designer for a brand-new game team, you will initially champion the "0-to-1" development of an exciting new Merge 2 title. You will own the game’s creative vision, architecting its core loop, progression systems, and meta-game from scratch. As the project matures, you will transition the team into soft launch and live operations, overseeing the day-to-day economy balance, event pipelines, and monetization features designed to drive long-term player retention.</p> <h4><strong>What You'll do:&nbsp;</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Own and drive the game's vision, aligning it with product goals and communicating it clearly to the team and stakeholders to build shared commitment.</li> <li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Lead ideation and brainstorming, and translate player motivations and behavior into user experience stories, wireframes, and optimal feature design.</li> <li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Mentor and grow a team of designers, fostering a collaborative, creative environment with clear goals and strong execution standards.</li> <li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Partner with product, engineering, and art to guide features from concept through implementation, reviewing and approving final designs.</li> <li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Improve design tools and processes to streamline the pipeline and boost team efficiency and productivity.</li> <li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Use live feedback and analytics to refine systems, maintain a balanced game economy, and champion design best practices across the studio.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>What are we looking for?&nbsp;</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Effective communicator with outstanding verbal, written, interperson