Gameplay Tools Engineer

At Gardens Interactive, we're building games centered on connection, collective adventure, and emergent stories. We believe the spirit with which we build games is reflected in the experiences our players have. The way we collaborate, solve problems, navigate uncertainty, and care for one another ultimately shapes the worlds we create. We're creating magical, shared experiences that bring players together and we know those experiences come from teams that are curious, resilient, ambitious, and deeply committed to one another.

We're a fully remote studio that embraces collaboration, thoughtful iteration, and the courage to explore new ideas. If you're excited by ambiguity, enjoy solving difficult problems with kind, talented teammates, and want to help build worlds where friendships flourish, we'd love to meet you.

As a Gameplay Tools Engineer, you will create custom Unreal Engine tools that support teams across the studio. You will partner with stakeholders to understand the unique needs of their iteration workflows and author bespoke tools using C++ within the Unreal editor and in-game environments that will accelerate those pipelines. You will be a force-multiplier for the team, enabling rapid exploration of new features and comprehensive analysis of and decision-making regarding the breadth of content that powers the emergent interactions of our games.

A Day in the Life:

• Craft tools that support other disciplines (including art, audio, design) in efficient content creation, iteration, and analysis.

• Work with individual developers to build features that can reduce manual effort and accelerate workflows.

• Playtest regularly with the team to understand the creative spaces our games are operating within in order to better support the team.

What You’ll Do:

• Own the technical architecture and implementation of multiple tools and supporting systems across the game, partnering closely with stakeholders and the production team to improve iteration throughput.

• Collaborate closely with audio, VFX, and design stakeholders to understand the needs of their development pipelines and proactively create solutions that will allow content production at scale.

• Act as a technical bridge between gameplay and backend engineering teams to aid in the development of analysis and diagnostics systems across all aspects of our games.

• Contribute to the stability of the game by proactively assisting in the identification and triage of issues in game systems, collaborating on solutions, and reducing friction in the development process.

What You’ll Bring:

• 3+ years of experience building game tools across one or more projects.

• Experience building customized tools via the Unreal editor’s extension mechanisms.

• Familiarity with Wwise or similar audio middleware.

• Experience working closely with VFX systems and artists.

• Clear communication, strong collaboration, and the judgment to work independently, recognize constraints, and seek support when needed.

Nice to Haves:

• Previous experience on shipped multiplayer titles using Unreal Engine.

• Prior experience owning the decision-making and implementations of significant portions of the tools ecosystem of a game or engine.

• Experience profiling and optimizing gameplay, engine, or infrastructure systems for large-scale content.

The Team:

• You will report to the Lead Gameplay Engineer.

• You will join a team of gameplay engineers who work closely with other disciplines to champion the values that our games are centered on.

How We Work

We believe great games are built by people who care deeply about both the work and one another. Our values guide how we collaborate, solve problems, make decisions, and grow together. They're practical behaviors, not slogans, and they're part of how we hire, give feedback, and support one another every day.

We're looking for teammates who are excited to:

• Stay curious and ask thoughtful questions.

• Adapt when plans change.

• Exercise good judgment rather than chase perfection.

• Care about the success of the whole team, not just their own work.

• Pursue ambitious goals while remaining humble enough to keep learning.

• Commit fully to the shared adventure we're building together.

You'll Thrive Here If...

• You enjoy asking questions before jumping to conclusions.

• You adapt comfortably when priorities evolve.

• You balance ambition with pragmatism.

• You communicate thoughtfully and seek feedback.

• You care about helping your teammates succeed.

• You embrace uncertainty as part of creating something new.