About
tobspr Games is a small, fully remote studio based in Germany that develops factory and automation games, including shapez and shapez 2. The studio is developing a new 3D factory game in Unreal Engine.
Responsibilities
•Design the game's core systems, including production chains, resources, logistics, progression, and economy, with input from the Game Director
•Break high-level mechanics into step-by-step plans the team can build
•Prototype and tune systems using spreadsheets, simulations, and Blueprints
•Write and maintain clear design documents and keep them aligned with the game
•Work daily with programmers, artists, and production to keep design and implementation aligned
•Organize design work by tracking priorities, open questions, decisions, and their rationale
•Challenge the Game Director's ideas, propose alternatives, and identify when something does not work
•Later, lead a small design team and help shape the studio's design practices
Requirements
•8+ years of professional game design experience, with a strong focus on systems design
•At least one shipped title where you owned major systems, ideally a systemic game such as simulation, strategy, sandbox, automation, survival, or colony builders
•Play and genuinely enjoy factory and automation games, and understand why players spend hundreds of hours on them
•Think in systems, including feedback loops, dependencies, scaling, emergent behaviour, and edge cases
•Prototype and test ideas hands-on, not just on paper
•Excellent written and verbal communication in English
•Working times compatible with the CET timezone
Nice to have
•A programming background or solid scripting skills (Blueprints, C++, C#, Python, Lua, or similar)
•Unreal Engine experience
•Experience leading or mentoring other designers
•Experience in small or remote indie teams
•Personal factory-game projects such as mods, tools, prototypes, calculators, or blueprints
Conditions
•Full-time, 40 hours per week
•Very flexible working hours
•Real influence on a game from its early stages
•Paid overtime, though the studio does its best to avoid it
•Book and training budget of €100/month, with more available if needed
•Focus days for learning new skills or researching
•Yearly on-site team events
•Automatic baseline salary adjustment of 2% per year
•Hardware and home office budget of €2,000 when joining, then €1,000 yearly
•Job Ticket for employees living in Germany
