Senior Combat Designer

“Your boldness will not go unrewarded.”  – The Academic

Red Hook are the creators of the Darkest Dungeon series, which has grown from crowdfunded beginnings to become gaming’s most iconic strategy gothic horror franchise. Darkest Dungeon and Darkest Dungeon II have combined to sell millions of copies. Red Hook continues to function as an independent studio under its parent company, Behaviour Interactive, with a mandate to continue creating bold titles featuring significant innovation. We strive to maintain a workplace founded upon creativity, respect, transparency, and accountability.

We’re looking for a Senior Combat Designer to help construct combat and encounters that are crucial to ensuring a challenging and fun experience. You’ll take a hands-on approach to designing and creating compelling heroes, enemies, and combat encounters that engage players in tactical and strategic thinking. If you love jumping into tools, iterating quickly, and obsessing over how combat feels, we’d love for you to raise the bar for both your and our craft here at Red Hook. Reporting to the Design Manager and partnering closely with the Design Director and the Combat team, you’ll be instrumental in the design of a key piece of our new ambitious game.

Why Join Us?

• Clear Vision & Leadership - Work with experienced leaders who know where the project is going and how to get there. Red Hook is led by the original Darkest Dungeon creators.
• Collaborative Culture - Join a team that respects and elevates each other’s craft, knowing that only through our collective efforts can we achieve success.
• Agency - With the game’s vision clearly defined, our designers are trusted with real creative ownership—working without micromanagement and empowered to shape a game the entire team will be proud of.
• Stability - Red Hook is careful about hiring and firing, seeking to avoid boom and bust cycles. We’re in this for the long game.
• Beautiful Vancouver - Live and work in one of the most desirable cities in the world. Relocation assistance available.

Responsibilities

• Help drive the design side of combat, working on any combination of heroes, enemies, encounters and core mechanics, from prototype to shippable state
• Design and implement enemy behaviors and combat AI, reasoning through their logic and continuously tuning them, to create distinct, readable and responsive threats
• Set the approach to encounters and pacing, working closely with level and environment teams, and keep it aligned with the game's pillars and combat vision
• Prototype rapidly in Unreal to test ideas in-game before committing to them, then build the final versions using the same tools.
• Act as the design voice for combat with design leadership and partner teams, building alignment around key decisions and direction
• Create and maintain clear documentation of how systems and features work

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional game design experience, including 3+ years designing combat, enemies, or encounters 
• Shipped at least one title where you drove the design of combat features or systems
• Deep understanding of combat fundamentals: balance; enemy behaviors; combat pacing; telegraphing and readability; and difficulty curves
• Strong prototyping, building, and scripting experience  in Unreal Engine 5 (including Blueprints and GAS) or similar tools
• Proven record of taking ownership, exchanging knowledge, and driving initiatives independently
• Strong collaborator who builds trust across disciplines and advocates firmly for quality without alienating teammates
• A builder’s mindset: you’re comfortable jumping into tools and making things work yourself
• Nice to have - spreadsheet-based balancing for power curves and difficulty pacing

Red Hook Studios is an inclusive, respectful, and supportive workplace. We encourage candidates of all identities and backgrounds to apply.