Narrative Designer - Trading Card Game

Fanatics Collectibles • Seattle, WA

4d

About The Position

Fanatics Collectibles is building the future of trading card games. The Fanatics TCG studio is focused on creating original worlds designed to live for decades, expressed through gameplay, art, story, and collectible objects. The ambition is to build franchises that are not only widely played but deeply felt. This role is for a Narrative Designer to help shape the worlds, characters, and stories that define these games. It is a role about building worlds—establishing the underlying logic, tone, and emotional core of new universes, and ensuring that every part of the player experience reflects that foundation. The designer will work closely with Creative, Game Design, and Art to develop narrative systems that live inside the cards themselves, where mechanics, visuals, and story reinforce one another. The ideal candidate brings strong storytelling instincts, a systems mindset, and a passion for creating worlds that players want to return to again and again.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in narrative design, writing, or worldbuilding for games, publishing, or related media.
• Strong ability to develop original worlds, characters, and narrative frameworks.
• Experience working in collaborative, cross-functional environments.
• Ability to balance creative vision with system constraints.
• Excellent writing skills across both short-form (e.g., flavor text) and long-form (e.g., lore, story guides).
• Passion for fantasy, sci-fi, and worldbuilding-driven storytelling.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working on trading card games, tabletop games, or live service games.
• Background in fantasy or sci-fi writing.
• Familiarity with how narrative can be expressed through game systems and mechanics.
• Experience contributing to original IP or franchise development.

Responsibilities

• Develop the foundational lore, cosmology, and narrative structure of new TCG worlds.
• Define factions, cultures, characters, and conflicts that can evolve over many sets and years.
• Help establish the tone, themes, and emotional identity of each franchise.
• Partner with Game Design to ensure that mechanics and narrative reinforce each other.
• Collaborate with Art and Creative teams to align on visual storytelling and world cohesion.
• Contribute to the development of set themes, narrative arcs, and character moments.
• Develop approaches for how story is expressed through card names, flavor text, mechanics, and set structure.
• Ensure that narrative is discoverable through play and collection, not just external content.
• Help define how narrative evolves across releases and expansions.
• Write flavor text, card names, and supporting narrative content.
• Contribute to world guides, story bibles, and internal documentation.
• Support external storytelling efforts (e.g., web content, marketing beats, potential media extensions).
• Work closely with Creative, Design, Product, and Marketing teams to ensure narrative consistency.
• Participate in early ideation, helping shape concepts before they become fully defined.
• Provide feedback that elevates the coherence and emotional impact of the world.

Benefits

• The salary range represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation.
• This salary range is specific to Seattle and may not be applicable to other locations.
• When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training.
• For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed