Level Designer

About the role

Level Designer

Location: Istanbul

Engagement: Full-time

Compensation: 4000-6000 EUR monthly

The Mission

Spyke Games is a leading mobile gaming company built by gaming veterans. Over the past decade, these veterans have successfully built and scaled massive gaming businesses. Our mission is to build the next generation of mobile game franchises intended for millions of global players over many years. We are assembling a team of the smartest, most talented, and fun to work with individuals. Our culture is driven by team spirit, collaboration, and a shared passion for games. It is a passionate, energetic, and eager-to-learn "geek" culture focused on the craft of game development.

We are searching for a talented Level Designer to join this mission. In this role, you will help us continue building world-class games and lasting franchises. You will operate within a fast-paced, hyper-growth environment alongside some of the most creative minds in the industry. Your primary function is to act as the critical link between engineering, art, and growth teams. You will drive the product development process forward for every game you contribute to.

Core Responsibilities

Your daily work involves defining the shape of play spaces and guiding pacing throughout live operations. You will align engineering pipelines with artistic vision while ensuring growth metrics influence design decisions. Your key duty is to balance risk and fun within complex systems for our upcoming franchises.

Specific duties include mapping core loops for new titles while collaborating with engineers and artists on a daily basis. You will craft vertical slices that clearly communicate game systems to producers and stakeholders within strict timelines. Guiding art direction through structured layout documentation and iterative blockout reviews for every project phase is essential.

You will coordinate with growth teams to tune difficulty curves and retention hooks inside live service constraints. Establishing content pipelines that standardize naming, versioning, and handoff steps is vital for long-term stability. Partnering with writers and narrative designers allows you to weave story beats into environmental storytelling and pacing.

Validating progression systems requires running controlled sessions to expose friction points in player journeys. Translating live data into design adjustments ensures challenge curves align with long-term business goals. Maintaining documentation that captures decisions, constraints, and rationale is crucial for future team onboarding. Supporting community initiatives involves providing clear insight into roadmap choices and upcoming feature sets.

Required Qualifications

You must hold three years of hands-on level design experience from at least one shipped commercial game. Demonstrating strong proficiency with design tools, spreadsheet software, and version control systems used in production is mandatory. You communicate clearly in written and spoken English while coordinating across time zones and departments. A solid understanding of mobile input models, usability principles, and accessibility considerations for broad audiences is required.

Nice to have

Experience with live operations, user behavior analysis, and monetization-friendly level structures is a significant advantage.

Tools and skills

Proficiency with Unity is a key requirement for this position.

Practical notes

This role is based in Istanbul and operates as a full-time engagement with a monthly compensation range of 4000 to 6000 EUR. The position requires on-site presence in Istanbul, and candidates must be eligible to work within the local legal framework without the need for sponsorship. Travel is not required for this role as it is a location-specific position within the Istanbul office. There are no visa sponsorship options available for this position, and candidates must ensure they have the right to work in Turkey under current regulations. The standard working hours align with the Istanbul time zone, and the schedule follows the norms of a full-time professional commitment within the region.

What you'll do

• Execute the core level design responsibilities as outlined for the Level Designer position at Spyke Games.
• Map and iterate on core gameplay loops to ensure they are engaging, balanced, and aligned with the intended player experience.
• Create and maintain detailed design documentation that captures system requirements, constraints, and design rationales for current and future projects.
• Build and refine vertical slices to validate concepts, communicate ideas, and secure stakeholder approval within aggressive development timelines.
• Implement and iterate on progression systems, ensuring that difficulty curves, reward structures, and pacing support both fun and retention goals.
• Conduct structured playtests to identify friction points, usability issues, and systemic imbalances within controlled player sessions.
• Synthesize qualitative feedback and quantitative data to propose actionable design adjustments that improve player journeys.
• Collaborate closely with engineers to integrate design changes into production pipelines while respecting technical constraints and performance budgets.
• Work with artists and writers to integrate narrative beats, environmental storytelling, and aesthetic direction into coherent level structures.
• Establish and maintain content pipelines that enforce consistent naming conventions, versioning strategies, and handoff procedures across teams.

Requirements

• Hold a minimum of three years of professional level design experience on at least one commercially shipped game.
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency with industry-standard design tools, spreadsheet applications, and version control systems utilized in production environments.
• Communicate effectively in both written and spoken English to coordinate with cross-functional teams across different time zones.
• Possess a strong grasp of mobile input models, usability heuristics, and accessibility best practices to ensure inclusive designs for diverse audiences.
• Understand the constraints and opportunities presented by live service models, including monetization considerations and long-term content cadence.
• Show an ability to interpret data, translate metrics into design hypotheses, and validate changes through iterative testing.
• Maintain organized and up-to-date documentation that captures design decisions, open questions, and trade-offs for future reference and onboarding.
• Thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where proactive communication and adaptability are essential for success.

Nice to have

• Prior experience with live operations, including patch management, live event tuning, and long-term service health.
• Familiarity with user behavior analysis techniques and A/B testing methodologies as applied to level design.
• Knowledge of monetization-friendly design patterns that preserve fairness and player trust while supporting business objectives.

Practical notes

This position is based in Istanbul and requires physical presence at the office. The engagement is full-time, and the compensation is offered as a monthly gross salary between 4000 and 6000 EUR. Travel and visa sponsorship are not provided for this role, and candidates must be legally authorized to work in Turkey. The hiring process will follow the procedures detailed Please confirm all terms, including remote policy, exact working hours, and compensation specifics, on the official application page before proceeding.