Game Designer (Mobile Gamification)

We’re looking for a talented Game Designer to join Inner Child once the project is able to offer a paid role. We’re currently applying for government grants and expect to secure initial funding soon. We’re building our shortlist now and plan to hire in approximately 3–5 months.

About the project

Inner Child is a startup developing a gamified mobile mental well-being application designed to help people who did not experience enough love and care in childhood and therefore developed self-perception challenges such as lack of self-love and self-worth. These issues often underlie other mental difficulties, including self-criticism, low self-esteem, stress/anxiety, emotional overwhelm, feelings of loneliness, and lack of support.
We aim to help users address these root causes through the concept of the Inner Child. To make the journey of self-improvement less heavy and more engaging, the application will be gamified.

The role

You’ll design a gamification framework around the inner child care practices such as inner dialog with the inner child, daily tasks to connect and make the Inner Child happy, rpg game-like mini therapeutic sessions for psycho education, reward mechanisms for every day login and tasks execution.

You’ll design the core game systems that make self-care feel motivating, safe, and magical — without turning mental well-being into pressure or “grind.” You’ll work closely with the Lead Psychologist and the Head of Design to bring the product to life through rewards, feedback, pacing, and playful rituals.

Responsibilities

• Design the core game loop and progression system.

• Define player motivation and retention systems that feel supportive, not addictive or stressful.

• Create and balance mechanics such as quests, streaks, collections, unlocks, rewards, and celebrations.

• Design onboarding and early-game experiences that quickly communicate and deliver value.

• Write clear game design documentation: mechanics specs, economy tables, progression curves, and feature briefs.

• Collaborate with design on UX flows, rewards visuals, animation moments, and “delight” interactions.

• Define success metrics and run iteration loops using analytics, playtests, and user feedback.

• Help shape the long-term roadmap for gamification features and social/engagement ideas if appropriate.

Requirements

• Fluent in English.

• Knowledge about and experience with Octalysis Framework.

• Proven experience as a game designer or product/game systems designer with shipped projects.

• Strong understanding of mobile free-to-play mechanics and progression design.

• Experience collaborating with product, UX, and engineering teams.

• Strong documentation and communication skills.

• You can use AI tools to speed up ideation and spec-writing, but you can also do deep systems thinking independently.

• You want to make the world a better place.

Nice to have

• Experience in wellness, mental health, education, or “meaningful games.”

• Experience with narrative systems, character progression, or avatar/pet mechanics.

• Familiarity with A/B testing and live-ops iteration.

• Understanding of ethical design and harm-minimization in engagement loops.

Apply for This Position

We review every application carefully and will get back to you within 5-7 business days.