Select your current position
Pick a role and level — we'll show the growth path, skills and gap analysis.
Development path
Junior
0-2 years
Responsibility: Completing tasks under the guidance of senior colleagues. Learning the codebase, standards, and team processes. Writing code to spec, fixing simple bugs, writing tests.
Key skills:
Middle
2-5 years
Responsibility: Independently developing features from decomposition to deployment. Participating in code review. Optimizing performance. Mentoring junior developers. Taking part in architecture discussions.
Key skills:
Senior
5-8 years
Responsibility: Designing the architecture of components and services. Solving complex technical problems. Managing technical debt. Code review as a quality gatekeeper. Mentoring middle developers. Choosing technologies for new tasks.
Key skills:
Lead / Staff
7-12 years
Responsibility: Technical leadership of a team or area. Designing system architecture. Coordinating with other teams. Establishing standards and best practices. Participating in hiring. Planning the technical roadmap.
Key skills:
Principal
10+ years
Responsibility: Technical strategy at the company or domain level. Cross-organizational influence. Solving systemic business problems through technology. Mentoring lead engineers. Publicly representing the company.
Key skills:
Gap analysis: skills to develop
To reach the next level you'll need to develop:
Designs AI systems based on behavior trees: tactical behavior, team coordination, adaptation to player actions. Configures NavMesh for complex levels with dynamic obstacles. Balances AI difficulty for different difficulty levels through parametric tuning.
Designs analytics event system for full game system coverage. Analyzes funnel metrics, level heatmaps, player resource distribution. Conducts A/B tests of balance changes and interprets results. Uses cohort analysis to evaluate changes.
Develops in-game economy systems: resource balance, sink/source models, progression curves. Models economy in spreadsheets with player behavior simulation. Conducts A/B tests of monetization mechanics. Balances reward schedules for optimal engagement.
Designs complex game systems: combat system, crafting, skill trees, quest systems. Balances mechanics through spreadsheet modeling and playtesting. Creates secondary loops and meta-game. Understands player psychology and applies motivational frameworks (SDT, Bartle taxonomy).
Designs narrative systems: branching dialogues, player choice consequences, narrative pacing. Creates compelling characters with character arcs. Uses narrative tools (Ink, Twine, Yarn Spinner) for implementing branching stories. Integrates narrative with gameplay mechanics.
Designs physics systems for gameplay: ragdoll, destruction, vehicle physics, cloth simulation. Configures physics layers and collision matrix for optimization. Creates custom physics for game feel: tweaked gravity curves, coyote time, input buffering for responsive controls.
Designs and conducts structured playtests: usability testing, balance testing, difficulty curve evaluation. Creates test plans for game systems. Analyzes playtest data (video recordings, metrics, questionnaires) and formulates actionable improvements. Automates basic balance testing.
Designs comprehensive UX systems: onboarding flow, control schemes for different platforms, accessibility features. Creates UI/UX documentation with wireframes and interaction specifications. Conducts usability testing and analyzes interaction heatmaps. Ensures consistent UX language.
Designs complex levels: multi-path layouts, vertical gameplay, risk/reward zones. Creates encounter design: enemy placement, cover systems, difficulty pacing. Works with navigation meshes for AI. Balances levels through playtesting: timing, challenge, reward distribution.