How to find a game designer for your indie game

Updated October 24, 2026 · 8 minute read

You can find a game designer in game jam teams, the job and collaboration sections of the Unity and Unreal Engine forums, r/gameDevClassifieds for paid roles, r/INAT for rev share and hobby teams, Work With Indies if you're a studio with a budget, and IndieGuild. The harder part is knowing which kind of designer you need, so that's where I'd start.

I founded IndieGuild, so keep that in mind when I talk about it.

1. Decide which kind of designer you need

"Game designer" covers a lot of different jobs. On a small team, these are the four that come up most:

• Systems designer. Rules, numbers, economy, progression, combat tuning. Bring one in when the game works but doesn't feel right, or players break your economy in an afternoon.
• Level designer. Layouts, pacing, encounters, and teaching the player without a tutorial popup. Bring one in when your mechanics are solid and you need spaces that use them well.
• Narrative designer. How the story plays out through play: quest structure, branching, dialogue flow, story in the environment. This overlaps a lot with writing, so my guide to finding a writer may be the better fit.
• UX designer. Menus, HUD, onboarding, controls and readability. Bring one in when playtesters get lost, miss key info or quit in the first few minutes.

Tip: If you need the designer to build in your engine too, scripting encounters or setting up levels themselves, say so. A designer who works on paper and a technical designer who works in Unity, Unreal or Godot are different hires.

2. Paid, rev share or hobby

Be honest about the deal before you look for anyone:

• Paid work. Per level, per milestone, per hour or per balance pass. It's the clearest setup, and it's easy to scope design work into small paid chunks.
• Revenue share. Everyone gets a cut if the game earns money. Rev share only pays if the game sells, so share your plan and only offer it if you're putting in real work too.
• Hobby or jam project. No money, just making something together. Great for learning and for finding a designer you click with.

Whatever you pick, put it in your first message. Some places even sort posts by it. Unity's Job Offering rules, for example, only allow paid offers with a guaranteed, known-value payment there, and send rev share posts to non-commercial collaboration instead.

3. Where to look

• Game jams. Play entries on itch.io jams in your genre and check who's credited for design. Jam team boards are full of designers looking for a team, too.
• Engine forums. Unity Discussions has a Collaboration & Jobs category with Game-Designer and Level-Designer tags. The Unreal Engine forums have Job Offerings, where the Recruitment Template asks you to start your title with [PAID], [CONTRACT], [ROYALTY] or [UNPAID]. GameMaker devs can post on the GameMaker Community's Collaboration board.
• Reddit. On r/gameDevClassifieds, paid posts for designers use the PAID - Game / Level Designer flair. On r/INAT, rev share and hobby teams post under Designer Needed. Read each sub's rules before you post.
• Work With Indies, if you're a studio hiring for a real role. Listings start at $49, according to their about page, and their Design category is a good look at how other studios word design roles.
• IndieGuild. In Find a teammate you pick up to three roles, like Game designer, Level designer or UI / UX, plus your engine and your genres, and it shows the game devs who fit best and why. You can also browse game dev profiles on Discover or the programmers and designers page, where their builds are right on the profile. Or post a role, mark it paid, rev share, either, hobby or not sure yet, and add a budget if you like. Designers who fit get it in their inbox.

4. What to send in your first message

A good first message makes a designer want to open your build. Keep it short and include:

• Your game: the name, genre and a playable build or a short gameplay clip.
• The kind of designer and the exact problem. "The second area's levels feel flat" or "players hoard gold and never spend it" beats "need help with design."
• Your engine and version, and whether they'd work in the engine or hand over docs, maps and spreadsheets.
• Time: how many hours a week you hope for, and for how long.
• The deal: paid, rev share or hobby, the budget if it's paid, and your timeline.

5. Look at how they think, not just what they've shipped

Design is easy to talk about and hard to fake in a build. Here's what I'd look for:

• Playable work. Prototypes, levels, jam games. If you can play it, you can judge it.
• Before and after. What changed after playtesting, and why. Good designers love talking about what didn't work.
• Short, clear docs. A two-page doc for one feature tells you more than a hundred-page design bible.
• Your genre. A great puzzle designer isn't automatically a great roguelike balancer.
• How they take feedback. On a small team, the designer will hear "that's not fun" a lot. Calm, curious answers are a great sign.

6. Start with a small paid test

Before you commit to the whole game, pay for one small, real piece of work:

• Level designer: one level or one encounter, greyboxed in your engine, with a short note on what it's meant to teach.
• Systems designer: a balance pass on one system, like the first hour's economy or one set of weapons, with the numbers they changed and why.
• UX designer: a review of your first ten minutes with the fixes they'd make first.
• Narrative designer: the structure of one quest or one branching conversation.

Agree on what "done" looks like, the file format, and the deadline. A week of real work together tells you more than any interview.

7. Put ownership in writing

Design work is a mix of ideas, docs, levels and numbers, so it's easy to leave fuzzy. Write down the pay or rev share split and how it's paid, how credit is listed (like "Level Design" or "Game Design"), who owns the design docs, levels and any files they make, when they can show the work in their portfolio, and what happens if someone leaves. For rev share, also write how revenue is counted and how often it's paid out. A one-page agreement now saves a falling-out later.

Red flags

• Nothing playable, only pitch docs and big ideas.
• Can't explain why a design choice was made.
• Wants to redesign your whole game when you asked for one level.
• Vague answers about time, pay or who owns what.
• Full payment up front for a big job with no milestones.

Common mistakes

• Hiring "a game designer" without deciding which kind.
• A free test that's really the job. Keep tests small, and pay for them.
• No playtests to work from. Designers fix problems they can see, so watch a few people play first.
• Leaving rev share terms vague until the game earns something.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find a game designer for my indie game?

Look at game jam teams and entries on itch.io, the job and collaboration sections of the Unity and Unreal Engine forums, r/gameDevClassifieds for paid roles, r/INAT for rev share and hobby teams, and Work With Indies if you have a studio budget. On IndieGuild, Find a teammate shows game devs by the roles you need, your engine and your genres, and you can browse game dev profiles on Discover or post a role.

What kind of game designer do I need?

A systems designer for rules, numbers, economy and balance. A level designer for layouts, pacing and encounters. A narrative designer for how the story plays out through quests and dialogue. A UX designer for menus, HUD, onboarding and controls. If they also need to build in your engine, say so, because that's closer to a technical designer.

Should I pay a game designer or offer rev share?

Paid work is clearer and easier to plan around. Rev share only pays if the game earns money, so be honest about your plan and only offer it when you're also putting in real work. Hobby is fine for jams and learning. Whatever you pick, say it in your first message.

What's a good test task for a game designer?

Something small, real and paid: one level greyboxed in your engine, a balance pass on one system, a review of your first ten minutes with fixes, or the structure of one quest. Agree on what done looks like and a deadline before they start.

Who owns the design work?

It depends on your agreement. Write down who owns the design docs, levels and any files they make, how credit is listed, when they can show the work in their portfolio, and what happens if someone leaves the project.

Is IndieGuild free for devs?

Yes. Posting a role, using Find a teammate and messaging are free, and I don't take a cut. You and the designer agree on pay, credit and rights directly.

More guides

• How to find a programmer or teammate for your indie game
• How to find a writer for your indie game
• How to find an artist for your indie game
• How to find a sound designer for your indie game
• How to find game programming and game design work (for creators)