Senior Game Designer, Casual Game

Microsoft Casual Games develops some of the most popular and enduring games in the world. From Solitaire to Sudoku, Minesweeper to Mahjong, for over 30 years Casual Games has delighted players of all ages with exciting, engaging gameplay on Windows, iOS, Android, and the Web. We strive to provide our players with not just joy and entertainment, but also meaningful social connections and shared experiences that bring people together through play.

Microsoft Casual Games is hiring a Senior Game Designer to support multiple products – both our live games, as well as exciting new titles currently in development. As part of our cross‑functional creative team, you’ll help define and evolve gameplay experiences that are accessible, inviting, and deeply engaging for a broad, global casual audience. You’ll contribute to a diverse portfolio of live game projects while helping shape the next generation of social, multiplayer-first casual experiences.

You’ll work closely with design, product, engineering, art, and analytics partners to design gameplay systems, features, progression loops, and social mechanics that foster connection, competition, and collaboration between players. This includes creating systems that are easy to learn, rewarding to master, and designed to support both solo play and social playstyles—whether through leaderboards, tournaments, cooperative modes, or lightweight social interactions that fit seamlessly into casual play patterns.

This role blends hands‑on game design execution with product‑level thinking, taking a holistic view of gameplay, player motivation, and social engagement across a portfolio of casual games. Beyond individual feature ownership, this role requires strong judgment, prioritization, and systems thinking — balancing player needs, accessibility, and clarity with studio goals, technical constraints, and long‑term product strategy.

This designer will partner closely with Design leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders to help coordinate and oversee multiple initiatives, represent game design perspectives in discussions, and serve as a trusted point of continuity across projects. They will act as a design lead within meetings, reviews, and planning conversations, helping to ensure alignment, momentum, and follow‑through when leadership is not present.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Game Design & Systems Design

• Design and own gameplay systems, features, and mechanics that create engaging, intuitive, and repeatable experiences tailored for a broad casual audience across PC, web, and mobile platforms. Ensure gameplay is accessible and easy to pick up, while offering depth, progression, and long‑term engagement for returning players.
• Design and iterate on multiplayer and social systems — including leaderboards, tournaments, leagues, cooperative play, asynchronous competition, and player‑to‑player interactions — that encourage connection, friendly competition, and shared experiences without adding unnecessary friction or complexity.
• Craft progression systems, reward structures, and game economies that reinforce both individual achievement and social engagement, motivating players to return, compete, collaborate, and share their progress with others.
• Create clear, detailed design documentation including feature specs, system diagrams, and tuning frameworks that communicate intent, rules, and player flows effectively to cross‑functional partners. Partner closely with engineering and product teams to implement, tune, and polish systems for live environments.
• Use playtesting, user research, and telemetry data to evaluate and refine gameplay and social experiences, ensuring systems remain balanced, rewarding, and aligned with player expectations for casual multiplayer experiences.

Product Design & Strategic Ownership

• Own and advocate for the moment‑to‑moment player experience, including gameplay feel, pacing, progression, and social engagement across features and systems. Ensure that social mechanics enhance, rather than disrupt, the core casual experience.
• Evaluate how gameplay, progression, and social features impact player engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction, making data‑informed adjustments to improve both individual and shared play experiences.
• Take a systems‑level view across multiple features and products, ensuring gameplay and social systems work together to create cohesive, motivating player journeys that support a wide range of play styles.
• Audit existing gameplay systems and live features to identify opportunities to strengthen social interaction, increase engagement, and reduce friction in player experiences; synthesize findings into actionable recommendations grounded in player insight and business impact.
• Contribute to early‑stage product definition by helping shape gameplay direction, social feature strategy, player motivations, and success metrics.

Collaboration & Communication

• Cultivate clear and effective communication by articulating gameplay ideas, documenting systems, and aligning teams around shared goals for player experience and social engagement.
• Partner closely with product management, engineering, art, analytics, and research to ensure gameplay and social systems are feasible, well‑scoped, and aligned with product strategy and technical constraints.
• Facilitate brainstorming sessions and design workshops to explore new gameplay ideas and innovative social mechanics tailored to casual audiences.
• Present gameplay systems, feature concepts, and social experiences to stakeholders, incorporating feedback and iterating to improve both clarity and impact. Back decisions with data and communicate tradeoffs clearly.
• Represent game design in multidisciplinary meetings, ensuring gameplay systems, dependencies, and risks are clearly communicated and understood.

Design Leadership & Team Enablement

• Act as a design lead for one or more initiatives, helping align designers, product managers, engineers, artists, and producers around gameplay direction, social features, and clear next steps.
• Provide mentorship and feedback to other designers, helping elevate quality in gameplay systems design, social feature thinking, and documentation practices.
• Help reinforce best practices for designing accessible, engaging, and socially meaningful experiences for casual players across the studio.

Design Processes & Best Practices

• Follow and advocate for game design best practices, with a strong understanding of trends in casual, mobile, and social/multiplayer game design.
• Use rapid prototyping, playtesting, and iteration to validate gameplay and social systems quickly, ensuring designs resonate with real players.
• Balance creative ambition with simplicity and clarity, ensuring features feel approachable and rewarding for a wide audience.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, reduce friction, and strengthen collaboration across teams to support efficient delivery of high‑quality gameplay and social experiences.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Art, Writing, Behavioral Science, Data Science, Game Design, or related field AND 4+ years experience in game development and design, systems design, content production, or related field OR Associate's Degree in Computer Science, Art, Writing, Behavioral Science, Game Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience in game development and design, systems design, content production, or related field
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Have shipped at least 1 title released to consumers/shipped game.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 4+ years of experience designing social, multiplayer, or player-to-player systems for games, with demonstrated ownership of features such as matchmaking, progression, competition, cooperation, spectating, or lightweight social interactions.
• Experience designing both asynchronous and synchronous play systems, with the ability to balance accessibility, fairness, clarity, and player motivation across different levels of social intensity and commitment.
• Experience using playtesting, player research, telemetry, and experimentation to define hypotheses, evaluate social behaviors, and iterate on game systems in live or pre-launch environments.
• Proven ability to design for broad casual audiences, creating experiences that are easy to learn, emotionally accessible, and resilient across a range of player skill levels, motivations, and social comfort levels.
• Systems thinking, written communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with experience driving design work from concept through implementation in partnership with product, engineering, art, analytics, and user research.
• Experience designing low-friction social systems for casual or mass-market audiences, including features that support presence, spectating, rematch behavior, lightweight identity, or social re-engagement without increasing complexity or pressure.
• Experience designing systems that span multiple games, modes, or products, such as shared progression, identity, event systems, or portfolio-level social mechanics.
• Experience in live service game design, including feature rollouts, KPI definition, A/B testing, and post-launch tuning for retention, engagement, and social participation.
• Experience shipping casual games across mobile, web, and PC platforms, with a strong understanding of usability, onboarding, and feature design for players with diverse play habits and session lengths.

#GamingJobs

Game Design IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800.00 - $234,700.00 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200.00 - $261,000.00 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.