Experienced 2D Character Animator

Important details

• Studio: Topdeck Productions — a small, focused indie team (~7 people) building for Steam
• Location: London preferred; open to remote for the right candidate
• Type: Full-time
• Salary: £35,000–£55,000/yr, depending on experience

About the game

Project Topdeck is a party-based roguelite deckbuilder game for Steam: players draft a party of heroes from a roster of ~20, each contributing cards to a shared deck. Visual style sits in the Darkest Dungeon / Slay the Spire 2 space — characters that read as a little dark and serious while still being expressive and full of personality.

What we're looking for

An experienced 2D animator to bring our hero and enemy roster to life in combat: idle states, attacks, hit reactions, deaths, and special-ability moments, all with the weight and readability a turn-based card battler needs to sell impact. You'll be working closely with our concept art direction to keep animation consistent with an established, painterly character style, and with our Unity implementation to make sure everything lands in-engine the way it's meant to.

You might be a good fit if you

• Have shipped 2D character/creature animation for games — a portfolio or reel showing combat-relevant animation (attacks, hits, deaths, idles) is a must
• Are comfortable working within an established art style rather than designing your own
• Have experience with a sprite or skeletal animation pipeline (Spine2D, DragonBones, or similar) and familiarity with how animation gets implemented in Unity
• Understand what makes combat animation feel weighty and readable, not just pretty
• Can work collaboratively and iteratively with a small team; based in London or able to overlap comfortably with a London-based team if remote

Nice to have

• Some VFX knowledge/experience — not required, but a plus if you've dabbled.

To apply

Send a portfolio or reel with combat/character animation examples, along with your availability to start.