Hire Remote Level Designers
Table of Contents
Hire Level Designers Who Build Spaces Players Want to Explore
Level design is the discipline that makes players feel clever, surprised, and rewarded. The level designers who can create a space that teaches a mechanic through environmental design without a single tutorial popup, who understand how player sight lines, pacing, and encounter placement work together to create memorable gameplay moments, and who can iterate rapidly from blockout to polished level — those designers are the ones who ship games that players remember.
We match you with senior Level Designers who’ve shipped PC, console, and mobile titles — designers who understand spatial design, encounter design, and the iterative process that turns a blockout into a great level.
Start in days, not months. Pay 50% less than equivalent US-based level design talent.
What Our Level Designers Do
Level Layout & Spatial Design
Level blockout, spatial composition, player flow design, and the layout work that creates spaces that feel natural to navigate while guiding players toward intended gameplay experiences. Level layouts that balance player agency with designer intent — spaces that feel open while keeping players on the critical path.
Encounter Design
Enemy placement, encounter scripting, difficulty pacing, and the combat encounter design that creates memorable gameplay moments. Encounters that teach players new skills, reward mastery, and scale difficulty in ways that feel fair rather than arbitrary.
Open World & Exploration Design
Open world region design, point of interest placement, exploration reward systems, and the design work that makes large game worlds feel worth exploring. Spaces that reward curiosity without punishing players who don’t explore.
Puzzle & Environmental Design
Environmental puzzle design, mechanic introduction sequences, and the spatial design work that teaches game mechanics through play. Puzzles that feel satisfying to solve because the solution was discoverable, not because it was obvious.
Level Design Technology Stack
Engines: Unity (ProBuilder, Terrain), Unreal Engine 5 (BSP, Landscape, PCG), Godot — blockout and level construction
Design Tools: Hammer (Source engine), Radiant (id Tech), custom level editors — engine-specific level design tools
Documentation: Confluence, Notion, Miro — level design documentation and flow diagrams
Collaboration: Perforce, Git — version control for level files and design documentation
Client Success Story: FPS Studio — Level Design That Achieved 94% Player Completion Rate
A first-person shooter studio’s campaign levels had a 61% completion rate — 39% of players who started a level didn’t finish it. Player data analysis revealed the problem: players were getting lost in levels that had multiple visually similar corridors, and the game’s checkpoint system placed checkpoints after the most frustrating encounters rather than before them. Our Level Designer redesigned 8 campaign levels: landmark-based navigation (each major junction had a visually distinct landmark visible from multiple approach angles), checkpoint placement moved to before difficult encounters rather than after, and encounter pacing restructured to alternate high-intensity and low-intensity moments. Level completion rate: increased from 61% to 94% across the redesigned levels.
Client Success Story: Metroidvania Studio — Exploration Design That Drove 4.9-Star Reviews
An indie studio building a Metroidvania needed level design that rewarded exploration without requiring a guide — players should be able to find secrets through observation and experimentation, not through luck or external resources. Our Level Designer developed an exploration design system: a visual language for secret entrances (subtle environmental cues that were consistent across all secrets), a reward tier system that matched secret difficulty to reward value, and a backtracking design approach that made revisiting areas feel like discovery rather than repetition. Player research showed 82% of players found at least 60% of secrets without external guides. The exploration design was cited in 90% of reviews as a standout quality. Steam rating: 4.9 stars.
Why Companies Choose Our Level Designers
- Spatial design thinking: They design spaces that guide players through environmental design — not through waypoints and tutorial popups
- Data-informed iteration: They use player analytics to identify navigation problems and validate design solutions
- Rapid blockout capability: They can produce and iterate on level blockouts quickly — design validation before art investment
- 50% cost savings: Senior level design expertise at a fraction of US market rates
- Fast start: Most engagements begin within 1–2 weeks
Engagement Models
- Individual Level Designer — One senior designer for level layout, encounter design, or open world design.
- Level Design Teams (2–3 designers) — For production volume: full game level libraries, large open world regions, or parallel level production.
- Contract-to-Hire — Evaluate spatial design thinking, iteration speed, and team fit before committing long-term.
- Project-Based — Defined level scope: campaign level set, open world region, or puzzle sequence.
How To Vet Level Designers
Our vetting identifies level designers who create spaces players love — not just designers who produce technically correct levels.
- Portfolio review — Shipped game credits with specific level design contributions. We look for spatial design quality, encounter design thinking, and evidence of player-centered design. Over 80% of applicants do not pass this stage.
- Spatial design assessment — Given a game concept and a set of mechanics, can they design a level layout that teaches the mechanics through environmental design? We evaluate the quality of their spatial thinking.
- Iteration evidence — Can they show blockout-to-final progression for shipped levels? Level designers who can’t show their iteration process may not have the rapid prototyping skills that production requires.
- Player outcome evidence — What happened to the levels they designed? Completion rates, player feedback, review mentions — we look for designers who can connect their design decisions to player outcomes.
What to Look for When Hiring Level Designers
Strong level designers create spaces that feel inevitable — players feel like the level was designed for them, not that they’re navigating a designer’s puzzle.
What strong candidates demonstrate:
- Shipped game credits with specific level contributions — not just “worked on level design team”
- They can articulate the player experience goal for each level they designed
- Portfolio shows blockout-to-final progression — evidence of rapid iteration capability
- They reference player data or playtesting in their design decisions
Red flags to watch for:
- Portfolio is entirely personal project levels with no shipped game credits
- Levels that look visually impressive but have no explanation of the player experience they create
- No evidence of playtesting or player research — they design for themselves
- Inability to articulate why specific design decisions were made
Interview questions that reveal real depth:
- “Walk me through a level you designed that shipped. What was the player experience goal, how did your layout design serve that goal, and what did playtesting reveal about what worked and what didn’t?”
- “How do you approach teaching a new mechanic through level design without a tutorial popup? Walk me through your design process.”
- “Describe a level design problem you identified through player data. What was the problem, what did you change, and what was the outcome?”
Frequently Asked Questions
Do your Level Designers work in specific engines, or are they engine-agnostic?
Can your Level Designers produce both blockouts and final dressed levels, or only one?
Do your Level Designers have experience with procedural level generation systems?
How quickly can a Level Designer start?
Related Services
- Game Designers — Game design specialists who design the mechanics that level designers implement in space.
- Environment Artists — Environment art specialists who transform level designer blockouts into visually compelling game spaces.
- Game UI/UX Designers — Game UI/UX designers who design the navigation systems that help players find their way through levels.
- Game Producers — Game producers who manage the production process that brings level designs to life.
Want to Hire Remote Level Designers?
We source, vet, and place senior Level Designers who’ve shipped real games — designers who create spaces players want to explore, design encounters that feel fair and memorable, and iterate rapidly from blockout to polished level.
Get matched with Level Designers →
Ready to hire Level Designers who build spaces players remember? Contact us today and we’ll introduce you to senior level designers within 48 hours.
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