Contract 2D Game Artists Wanted

Sifteo is seeking contract 2D game artists at all levels of their career for several games in development. We are looking for trained digital artists who are eager to gain experience or expand upon their past experience working on commercial games, are passionate about games and game art, and are excited about building quality games for our innovative gaming platform. In short, you need to be able to create high-quality game art assets quickly and with an eye for polish.

Our team is fun, smart, and relentless. So are you. You’ll be working with a small team on a single game for our Sifteo cubes, and you will get an artist’s credit. There’s more art needs on the horizon so this could be just the beginning.

Sifteo cubes are wireless blocks with full color screens that interact with each other and respond to motion to unleash a whole new world of play and learning applications. The technology was spun out of the MIT Media Lab and has been featured on the Science and Discovery channels, presented at the TED conference, and showcased by The New York Times (David Pogue review), Time Magazine, CNN, Wired, Engadget and more. Adults love it! And kids love it, big time! For more information about our product, see https://sifteo.com/.

What we’re looking for:

• BFA or equivalent from a top art school
• excellent Photoshop skills
• strong portfolio of 2D and pixel art
• high standards for aesthetic and technical quality of game art
• excellent design skills, including effective use of color, form, shading, texture and composition
• proficient sprite animation skills, including effective use of timing and frame limitations
• ability to follow established visual identities
• strong understanding of UI design and usability
• playful and creative – we love visual puns and easter eggs
• seeks out and positively responds to feedback
• collaborative – enjoys working with others to identify solutions and learn
• pro-active, detailed, communicative and organized
• good taste, culturally savvy, loves games
• excited about Sifteo cubes, and ready to work hard with us
• Bay Area preferred, but remote is fine too
• 2-3+ month contracts per game
• about 50%-100% time on the game during your contract

Responsibilities:

• work with game designer/programmer to define the visual identity, spirit and narrative space of the game (for senior artists)
• work with the lead artist and producer to understand the requirements for the established visual identity, spirit and narrative of the game (for junior artists)
• understand asset requirements and specifications, and pro-actively call out missing items
• create art assets based on asset lists and specifications
• show drafts of work early and often
• art production and sprite animations for production-ready assets
• revise assets as needed based on player feedback and shifting game requirements
• create print-quality high-res versions of select game arts for marketing purposes (for senior artists)
• maintain an organized, shared directory of art assets and source files
• maintain organized, layered documents that can be easily shared with other artists

Bonus points for:

• aptitude for compression and other technical tricks to reduce asset size (we have some tricky limitations)
• strong character design skills
• art concepting abilities to help define the spirit and visual identity of a game
• game industry experience (mobile gaming is a plus)

Please send resumes in PDF only along with your hourly rate to jobs@sifteo.com with subject “contract 2D game artist.”

Contract Content Designers Wanted

Sifteo is seeking contract content designers for several games in development. We are looking for someone who has proven expertise in understanding gameplay systems, has designed compelling maps and puzzles for commercial games, can write succinctly and with humor, works well with other game designers and programmers, is passionate about games, and is excited about building quality games for our innovative gaming platform. If you’ve admired what we do but aren’t looking to commit to a longterm position, this could be a perfect opportunity to be involved in crafting the future of gaming!

Our team is fun, smart, and relentless. So are you. You’ll be working with a small team on a single game for our Sifteo cubes, and you will get a design credit. There’s more content design needs on the horizon so this could be just the beginning.

Sifteo cubes are wireless blocks with full color screens that interact with each other and respond to motion to unleash a whole new world of play and learning applications. The technology was spun out of the MIT Media Lab and has been featured on the Science and Discovery channels, presented at the TED conference, and showcased by The New York Times (David Pogue review), Time Magazine, CNN, Wired, Engadget and more. Adults love it! And kids love it, big time! For more information about our product, see https://sifteo.com/.

What we’re looking for:

• 2+ years of professional experience designing levels, MAPS, puzzles and copy for games
• systems thinker – ability to quickly understand a game’s overall design and how content fits in
• general understanding of the game tech pipeline
• as comfortable designing within XML as designing with robust editing tools
• critical thinker – constantly suggest ways to improve a game’s content design approach
• collaborative – able to work within a multi-discipline team, offer constructive criticism as necessary, and feel comfortable commenting on areas of the game beyond your own immediate domain (if you need a yeti to design the  best possible puzzle in Map 3, you ask for it)
• sense of humor
• storytelling and copy writing skills – you’re brief, captivating and funny
• commitment to to an iterative design-test-refine cycle
• comfortable working in a fast paced, start-up environment in a small team
• pro-active, detailed, communicative and organized – you take pride in your work
• good taste, culturally savvy, loves games
• excited about Sifteo cubes, and ready to work hard with us
• Bay Area preferred, but remote is fine too – you’ll probably be about 50%-100% time on the game during your contract (usually 2-3 months per game), depending on factors like your own speed, scope, and project calendar

Responsibilities:

• work with producer and game designer/programmer to set up content design environment and understand game design vision as well as specific content design goals
• design a series of maps for a high-profile game
• write quests and dialog based on general guidelines defined by the lead designer
• regularly test your own work for appropriate sense of progression and challenge
• support playtests with content sets and questions as well as openness to resulting feedback

Bonus points for:

• boardgame geekery
• impressive gamer status
• math, film and/or architectural background
• previous design credits on a game we love

Please send resumes in PDF only to jobs@sifteo.com with subject “contract content designer.”

If you are or you know a smart, relentless coder with C# / C++ gameplay experience, Sifteo wants to hear from you!

Please send resumes in PDF only to jobs@sifteo.com with subject “contract game programmer”, and see below for more info.

We have AWESOME stuff in store for 2012. Come join us!

Contract Gameplay Programmers Wanted for Q1-Q2 2012

Sifteo is seeking contract gameplay programmers for Q1-Q2 of 2012 (possibly beyond). We are looking for someone who has proven expertise in building gameplay systems and tools, works well with designers and artists, is passionate about games, and is excited about building quality games for our innovative gaming platform. If you’ve admired what we do but aren’t looking to commit to a longterm position, this could be a perfect opportunity to be involved in crafting building the future of gaming!

Our team is fun, smart, and relentless. So are you.

You’ll be working with a small team on a single game for our Sifteo cubes (wireless blocks with full color screens that interact with each other and respond to motion to unleash a whole new world of play and learning applications). The technology was spun out of the MIT Media Lab and has been featured on the Science and Discovery channels, presented at the TED conference, and showcased by The New York Times (David Pogue review), Time Magazine, CNN, Wired, Engadget and more. Adults love it! And kids love it, big time! For more information about our product, see https://sifteo.com/.

What we’re looking for:

• 3+ years of professional experience as a gameplay programmer
• BS or equivalent in computer science or a related field
• mastery of multiple programming languages, including: C/C++, C#, Python, Java, etc. (C/C++ especially)
• comfortable working in a fast paced, start-up environment in a small team
• pro-active, detailed, communicative and organized – you take pride in your work
• good taste, culturally savvy, loves games
• can tell when a mechanic isn’t quite right, a color is off, a response time is weird: and you get in there and fix it
• excited about Sifteo cubes, and ready to work hard with us
• Bay Area preferred, but remote is fine too – you’ll probably be about 50%-100% time on the game during your contract, depending on factors like your own speed, scope, and project calendar

Responsibilities:

• implement games based on direction from game designers
• pro-actively identify broken mechanics and suggest improvements to overall game design
• collaborate as needed with product development team and staff gameplay programmers to expand the SDK and tools
• ensure quality in your game by building unit and system tests
• debug patiently, document efficiently, refactor smartly, and iterate, iterate, iterate

Bonus points for:

• experience with web development
• experience with embedded systems programming

We are looking for someone who has proven expertise in building gameplay systems and tools, works well with designers and artists, is passionate about games, and is excited about jumping into a start up environment.

You’ll be working with a small team and will be responsible for the development of a wide range of games. In short, you need to be able to build high-quality games quickly and robustly.

We are creating Sifteo cubes, wireless blocks with full color screens that interact with each other and respond to motion to unleash a whole new world of play and learning applications. The technology has been spun out of the MIT Media Lab and has been featured on the Science and Discovery channels, presented at the TED conference, and has been showcased by The New York Times (David Pogue review), Time Magazine, CNN, Wired, Engadget and more. Adults love it! And kids love it, big time!

For more information about our product, see http://sifteo.com

Yes, this is a position in a startup!

We’re well funded, and we can pay you. But if the two main priorities in your life are inherent security and the ability to rely on things planned months ahead, please stop reading this now and do something else. If curiosity, ability to suffer, resilience and clear sense of individual responsibility get you going, please continue reading. You’ll find and we expect a sense of truthfulness (towards oneself, each other and reality, learned the hard way), being demanding (is this the best you can do?) as well as extensiveness (have fun really grasping things in their entirety).*

You:

• 3+ years of professional experience as a gameplay programmer
• BS or equivalent in computer science or a related field
• mastery of multiple programming languages, including: C/C++, C#, Python, Java, etc.
• comfortable working in a fast paced, start-up environment in a small team
• pro-active, detailed, communicative and organized – you take pride in your work
• can tell when a mechanic isn’t quite right, a color is off, a response time is weird: and you get in there and fix it.
• excited about Sifteo cubes, and ready to work hard with us

Responsibilities:

• implement games from the ground up in collaboration with game designers
• develop frameworks and libraries to enable rapid prototyping and development
• collaborate with product development team to expand the SDK and tools
• ensure quality across games by building unit and system tests
• debug patiently, document efficiently, refactor smartly, and iterate, iterate, iterate
• continue defining your role as we grow

Bonus points for:

• we’ll trust you to do things right
• you’d be getting in early in a company that has massive potential
• you’ll feel satisfied that you’re creating something that people love
• we are working on something really awesome! Join us!

Compensation:

• salary plus equity

If interested, please send your resume in PDF format ONLY to jobs at sifteo dot com, subject “Gameplay Programmer”

*The folks at work.io put this paragraph together. It totally captures what we want in our work culture. Thanks work.io for articulating this idea.

Sifteo, a venture-backed consumer electronics start-up, is seeking a Business Development Lead to help deliver a new interactive play and learning system to consumers.

We are looking for someone who can develop and execute a focused outreach plan — with measurable goals — that attracts top notch developers to build amazing apps and games on the Sifteo cubes system. And you’ll need to ensure those games get delivered!

You’ll engage huge studios, indies, educational software developers, individual designers – the whole gamut of interested parties. You’ll be using your pre-existing rolodex and meeting lots of new people, pitching the opportunity to build apps on our system, and closing deals to get these apps made.

You’ll need to both understand and help develop the vision for the product in order to find just the right people to partner with Sifteo.

Finally, you’ll need enough technical know-how to understand the basics of our SDK and development process.

It’s an amazing product, we (humbly) believe – go build our developer community!

A lot of people have been asking us – is Sifteo interested in interns?

Answer: YES!

Find below some opportunities, complete with an introductory paragraph. Know someone who might be interested? Send them a link to this post. Thanks!

Sifteo, a venture-backed consumer electronics start-up, is seeking talented interns to come work with our amazing team in San Francisco!

We are creating Sifteo cubes: wireless blocks with full color screens that interact with each other and respond to motion to unleash a whole new world of play and learning applications. Sifteo cubes feature technology spun out of the MIT Media Lab, and have been featured on The New York Times, Wired.com, Engadget, CNET, and more.  For more information about our product, see http://www.sifteo.com

We’re looking for the following interns:

Game Developer Intern

We are looking for someone who is passionate about games, possesses understanding of both video game and table top game mechanics, can design and code, knows their way around art and sound, and is excited about jumping into a start up environment.

At Sifteo you’ll get a chance to:

• develop games with the Games Team
• assist in QA work for Sifteo games

Desktop Software Developer Intern

We are looking for candidates who have proven expertise in creating well-designed, robust, and delightful desktop software, an ability to quickly improvise and iterate, and a passion for building innovative technologies.

Some of the things you’ll be able to achieve here at Sifteo:

• work on expanded metrics reporting, social features, security features and desktop interfaces
• expand the game API

Firmware Developer/Electrical Engineer Intern

We are looking for candidates who have a strong understanding of embedded systems and electronics, and love of building and getting one’s hands dirty. You aren’t afraid to throw together a quick prototype but you know the difference between a demo and quality and robustness.

The following are just a few examples of things you’ll get to work on here at Sifteo:

• work on building new behaviors into the cubes, such as sensor data processing or more sophisticated graphics processing
• EE prototypes – designing, assembling and testing boards

Web Developer Intern

We are looking for candidates that love web development and that see how networked systems can create great user experiences within the browser and even outside it.

We’re looking for someone who wants to:

• dig deep with access to our data and use it to show us something interesting with analytics visuals and charts
• work on social features and integration: comments, ratings, votes, etc.
• create richer content around our games: upload videos, user images, etc.

Art Intern

We are looking for candidates that are skilled creators of two dimensional digital artwork.

We’re looking for someone who wants to:

• crank out high quality, consistent artwork
• build up efficient artwork production process
• come up with concepts quickly
• do some graphic design as-needed

Marketing Intern

We are looking for candidates that want to learn about PR, marketing and customer research.

We’re looking for someone who wants to:

• write well and communicate effectively
• empathize with users
• stay on top of many tasks and remain organized

If interested in any of these internships, please send your resume in PDF format ONLY to jobs at sifteo dot com, subject “Intern 2011″

• Electrical Engineers
• Firmware Developers
• Game Developers
• Web Developers
• Desktop Developers
• Game Designers

If interested, please check out our detailed job descriptions, then send your resume to .