Narrative Designer

Help shape the future of the Good, Great universe—great games are remembered for the worlds they create and the characters players never forget. At TapBlaze, we're looking for a Narrative Designer to expand Good Pizza, Great Pizza, Good Coffee, Great Coffee, and future titles in the series.

About TapBlaze

TapBlaze is an independent game studio dedicated to creating games players will remember for decades. Since 2012, our games have been downloaded more than 300 million times worldwide. We build timeless experiences grounded in warmth, charm, memorable characters, and gameplay-first storytelling. As an independent studio, everyone has the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

What You'll Create

• Expand the Good, Great Universe: Shape new Chapters, recurring characters, locations, organizations, traditions, and lore while preserving the charm and consistency players love.
• Design Gameplay-Driven Stories: Pitch original Chapter concepts, seasonal events, and long-term story arcs that players experience through gameplay, not passive exposition. Collaborate with game designers to ensure narrative and gameplay reinforce each other.
• Write In-Game Narrative: Craft dialogue for customers, recurring characters, and major story moments, keeping each voice distinct within tight constraints. Write tutorials, UI copy, achievements, item descriptions, flavor text, and seasonal event content tailored for mobile gameplay. Produce narrative documentation to support localization across multiple languages.
• Collaborate Across the Studio: Partner with designers, artists, engineers, QA, production, and community support. Contribute creative ideas through brainstorming, playtesting, and iteration. Maintain character bibles, worldbuilding documentation, timelines, and narrative style guides.

You're a Great Fit If...

• You think like a designer, not just a writer—asking questions like: What should happen in the next Chapter? How can gameplay tell a better story? What makes a character unforgettable? How can we make this world feel more alive?
• You enjoy collaboration, embrace feedback, and care deeply about creating experiences players will remember.

Requirements

• Based in the Los Angeles area (or relocating before your start date). This is a fully onsite role, five days per week.
• 3+ years of professional experience as a Narrative Designer, Game Writer, or similar role in the video game industry, with at least one shipped title.
• Proven experience creating engaging dialogue, memorable characters, worldbuilding, and gameplay-driven storytelling.
• Strong instincts for warmth and restraint—making short exchanges carry emotional weight without melodrama.
• Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary game development teams.
• Strong portfolio showcasing narrative design, dialogue writing, worldbuilding, character creation, and interactive storytelling.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing narrative for live-service games or seasonal events.
• Experience writing for mobile free-to-play games.
• Familiarity with Yarn Spinner or similar narrative tools.
• Experience writing for localization and multilingual audiences.
• Familiarity with Good Pizza, Great Pizza and Good Coffee, Great Coffee.

Physical Requirements

• Reliably commute to our Los Angeles, CA office (or plan to relocate before starting).
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Pay

The range for this role is $70,000 to $100,000 depending on experience.