Senior Game Designer (Contract)

Instrument is a digitally native design and technology company built to help brands unlock their full potential. Since 2005, our team of makers, thinkers, and storytellers has partnered with leading brands like Google, Nike, Uber, ŌURA, and Eventbrite to craft digital experiences that create impact and drive results. Unlike traditional agencies, we don’t just design—we build. Our work lives at the intersection of taste and technology, powered by curiosity, thoughtful curation, and a commitment to delivering the most fitting solution for every brief. We bring this to life across three core offerings: Brand, Marketing, and Product. We’re a hands-on, highly collaborative team of multi-hyphenates who move fast from idea to execution. With offices in Portland and NYC and a distributed team across the U.S. and Europe, we scale for big moments and stay nimble for the quick ones—always building teams around the unique needs of each project. We’re a place for people who never stop learning—those excited to stretch their craft, experiment with new tools, and grow through collaboration. We believe great work comes from a mix of perspectives—people with different paths, passions, and lived experiences. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, supporting diversity and providing reasonable accommodations so everyone can do their best work. We believe great work comes from a mix of perspectives—people with different paths, passions, and lived experiences. Come join us and help shape what’s next. We’re looking for a Senior Game / Visual Designer to join a highly confidential project exploring a new kind of narrative, text-driven interactive experience. This role sits at the intersection of game systems, immersive visual design, and emerging technology, and is ideal for someone who loves designing worlds as much as interfaces. You’ll partner closely with a small, senior team to define how players move through — and emotionally experience — a richly layered, story-forward system. What You'll Do

Create immersive, “in-world” interfaces that feel native to the narrative rather than overlaid on top of it.

Design and document complex gameplay loops that support narrative progression, player choice, and state-based outcomes

Shape how players receive information through visual, textual, and sensory cues — including state changes, progression signals, and emotional feedback.

Help define and curate guidelines for AI-generated assets (portraits, environments, landscapes), ensuring stylistic cohesion and narrative integrity.

Work closely with creative, design, and technical partners to ensure systems, visuals, and storytelling are deeply aligned.

What You'll bring

5–8+ years of experience in game design, interactive narrative, or systems-driven visual design

Strong understanding of diegetic UI and immersive interface design

Proven experience designing complex systems, loops, and progression models

Exceptional visual sensibility paired with clear systems thinking

Comfort working with ambiguity and helping define new frameworks from scratch

Ability to document thinking clearly for cross-functional teams

Major Plus: TTRPG literacy (D&D, narrative tabletop systems, or similar) – Familiarity with branching narratives, player agency, and emergent storytelling is a big win.

Pay Range

The expected pay range for this role is $61-$78 per hour (on a W2), but will depend on the level in which you are engaged

Our company has three regional pay bands that it adheres to depending on your location, we reference them as US 1, US 2, and US 3.

US 3 is our base pay. Examples of cities in US 3 are Portland, Houston and Miami.

US 2 pay is 7.5% higher than US 3 to meet the market rates. Examples of cities in US 2 are Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

US 1 pay is 15% higher than US 3 to meet market rates. Examples of cities in US 1 are Brooklyn and San Francisco.

If you are curious which region you are in, please apply and get connected with our recruiting team