Narrative Designer

About the Role

Join TapBlaze in shaping the future stories within the Good, Great universe, including titles such as Good Pizza, Great Pizza and Good Coffee, Great Coffee. As a Narrative Designer, your role transcends simple dialogue writing; you will craft new story chapters, develop memorable characters, and weave lore that enriches our game worlds. Collaborate directly with designers, artists, engineers, QA, and production to create engaging experiences embraced by millions globally.

Our studio values subtle emotional storytelling over melodrama, celebrating the beauty found in small moments. We seek a creative partner who consistently asks "What if?" and discovers compelling narratives in everyday life, building immersive worlds for players to return to again and again.

This is a full-time, in-person position based in Los Angeles, California. Candidates must work on-site five days a week; remote or hybrid arrangements are unavailable.

Key Responsibilities

• Expand the Good, Great universe with new chapters, recurring characters, fresh locations, organizations, traditions, and lore while maintaining established charm and consistency.
• Develop unique characters with distinct motivations, personalities, and relationships that resonate with players.
• Conceive original story concepts, seasonal events, and long-range story arcs that integrate deeply with gameplay mechanics.
• Design narratives told through gameplay interaction rather than passive storytelling, working closely with game designers to complement gameplay and narrative harmoniously.
• Cultivate emotionally impactful moments through subtle storytelling such as meaningful exchanges and everyday experiences.
• Write concise in-game dialogue for customers, recurring figures, and pivotal story beats, adhering to line and character constraints while maintaining voice distinctiveness.
• Produce supporting narrative content including tutorials, user interface text, achievements, item descriptions, flavor text, and seasonal event scripts.
• Prepare narrative documentation optimized for localization across multiple languages.
• Collaborate extensively with interdisciplinary teams including design, art, engineering, QA, production, and community support, contributing creative insights during brainstorming and playtesting.
• Maintain and update character bibles, world-building documents, timelines, and narrative style guides to ensure narrative coherence.

Candidate Profile

You are a storyteller who thinks like a game designer. You ask thoughtful questions about future story developments, gameplay integration, character memorability, and world vitality. You thrive on collaborative feedback and are motivated to create memorable player experiences.

Required Qualifications

• Reside in or be willing to relocate to Los Angeles, California prior to start date; on-site work five days per week is mandatory with no exceptions.
• Minimum of three years professional experience in narrative design, game writing, or related storytelling roles with at least one shipped title in the video game industry.
• Proven ability to craft engaging dialogue, create memorable characters, and develop gameplay-driven narratives.
• Strong instinct for subtle emotional storytelling without melodrama.
• Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary teams in game development environments.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating narrative design, dialogue writing, worldbuilding, character development, and interactive storytelling capabilities.

Preferred Experience

• Background in narrative development for live service or seasonal event games.
• Experience writing for mobile free-to-play game audiences.
• Familiarity with narrative scripting tools such as Yarn Spinner.
• Capable of writing with localization and multilingual audiences in mind.
• Knowledge of the Good Pizza and Good Coffee game series.

Physical and Location Requirements

• Ability to commute reliably or plan relocation to Los Angeles before starting employment.
• Comfort with prolonged periods of desk and computer work.

Compensation

The annual salary range offered is $70,000 to $100,000, based on experience.

Diversity Commitment

TapBlaze is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, valuing employees from all backgrounds without discrimination and promoting equity throughout all operations and partnerships.

Additional Information

Direct any questions or concerns about this job posting or potential fraudulent communications to the company's careers email.