Game Designer — Combat Clarity & Animation Spec (dWars, Australian applicants only)

About the project dWars is a real-time strategy game where you command tens of thousands of drones in large-scale tactical battles. Demo live at https://dwars.io and itch.io. The problem we're solving. The core combat loop works, but players aren't always sure what impact their decisions are making. We need someone who can identify exactly where that breaks down and design the feedback systems that fix it — visual language, animation cues, UI signals, and interactive moments that make players feel informed and in control. You design and specify. The developer implements. Your job is to make the intent clear enough to build. What you'll do - Play the game and audit the combat experience from a player perspective - Design feedback systems: what players should see and feel when issuing commands, taking damage, winning or losing a push - Specify animations and interactive effects — not frame-by-frame, but clear enough that a developer knows exactly what to build (timing, triggers, states, transitions) - Deliver assets and specs in Figma (our internal design tool) - Help articulate the design direction in plain language for our grant materials Who we're looking for - Australian-based — this is a hard requirement - Experience designing for games — you understand interactivity, feedback loops, and game feel - Strong at specifying motion and animation: you can communicate timing, easing, trigger conditions, and visual intent - Figma fluent — you can prototype, annotate, and hand off in Figma - RTS or strategy game experience a strong plus