Game Designer; Project

Join the team at Meow Wolf as a Game Designer (Project-Based Role) and help create immersive, interactive experiences that transport visitors into fantastical realms.

As a Game Designer reporting to the Director, Experience Strategy, you will play a key role in developing quest experiences within themed interactive art exhibitions. Your work will leverage game mechanics such as inventory management, economy systems, puzzles, progression, rewards, and branching narratives to create engaging, seamless gameplay that integrates physical installations and mobile applications.

• Design quest experiences that combine exploration, puzzle-solving, inventory, and progression.
• Develop core gameplay systems, including player progression, rewards, narrative structures, and dynamic world interactions.
• Collaborate with UX/UI designers to create intuitive interfaces that blend physical and digital interactions.
• Prototype and iterate rapidly using paper prototyping and digital tools, validating ideas before full implementation.
• Establish clear workflows and milestones for quest development, ensuring iterative feedback and cross‑team collaboration.
• Work with art, engineering, product management, and story teams to align vision and execution.
• Integrate mobile app and physical space gameplay, ensuring smooth real‑world and in‑app transitions.
• Use play testing data and guest interactions to continuously refine gameplay systems.
• Collaborate with the story team to weave storytelling into quest design, building immersion and progression.
• Partner with developers to optimize game systems for performance across mobile platforms and physical installations.

• 8+ years of game or system design experience with a portfolio demonstrating video game and/or interactive experience work.
• Proficiency with Unity, Unreal Engine, or similar game engines.
• Strong problem‑solving skills, able to merge digital and physical gameplay into unique experiences.
• Demonstrated cross‑functional collaboration with UX/UI, product, and development teams, communicating design intent clearly.
• Experience using analytics tools to track and analyze user behavior and iterate on design elements.
• Proficiency in narrative‑driven game design, creating systems that enhance storytelling and player agency.

• Experience designing AR, VR, or MR gameplay that bridges physical and digital environments.
• Experience designing for multiple platforms with a mobile‑first focus that interacts with physical spaces.
• Experience with live service elements, managing updates and ongoing content releases post‑launch.
• Knowledge of industry design patterns from major game studios, applying insights to live entertainment.

This role is remote‑friendly, allowing work from a home office or another suitable environment with reliable internet access. The work involves creative, iterative collaboration, frequent play testing, and alignment of gameplay direction with narrative intent.

• Frequent keyboard and mouse use; sustained visual attention to screens for design, testing, and documentation.
• Periodic onsite visits to exhibition spaces for playtests and reviews; walking through multi‑level environments and standing for extended periods.
• Occasional lifting or carrying of light items up to 15 pounds (e.g., laptop, prototype materials).
• Travel by air or car as needed for onsite work.

Some travel (10%–25%) is required, including visits to Meow Wolf exhibition sites for onsite reviews, gameplay interaction evaluation, workshops, and collaboration with on‑location teams.

Meow Wolf is an equal‑opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made based on business need, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Reasonable accommodations are available to individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

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