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TapBlaze

Mobile game studio creating casual simulations

Narrative Designer

Full-Time
$70k - $100k/yr
Mid
Los Angeles, CA, USA
In PersonOn-site five days per week; relocation before the start date is supported if needed.
Content & WritingCopywriting & Creative Writing

About the job

Requirements
  • The candidate must be based in the Los Angeles area or relocate before the start date and work onsite five days per week.
  • The candidate must have at least 3 years of professional experience as a Narrative Designer, Narrative Writer, Game Writer, or in a similar narrative-focused video game industry role, including at least one shipped title.
  • The candidate must have experience creating engaging dialogue, memorable characters, worldbuilding, and gameplay-driven storytelling.
  • The candidate must have experience collaborating with multidisciplinary game development teams.
  • The candidate must provide a strong portfolio showcasing narrative design, dialogue writing, worldbuilding, character creation, and interactive storytelling.
Responsibilities
  • Shape the Good, Great universe through new Chapters, recurring characters, locations, organizations, traditions, and lore.
  • Create memorable characters with distinct personalities, motivations, and relationships.
  • Expand the universe while preserving its established charm and consistency.
  • Pitch original Chapter concepts, seasonal events, and long-term story arcs.
  • Design stories that players experience through gameplay rather than passive exposition.
  • Collaborate with game designers so narrative and gameplay reinforce one another.
  • Write dialogue for customers, recurring characters, and major story moments while preserving each character's distinct voice within tight line and character limits.
  • Create tutorials, user-interface copy, achievements, item descriptions, flavor text, and seasonal event content.
  • Write concise dialogue tailored for mobile gameplay.
  • Produce narrative documentation that supports localization across multiple languages.
  • Partner with designers, artists, engineers, quality assurance, production, and community support.
  • Contribute creative ideas through brainstorming, playtesting, and iteration.
  • Maintain character bibles, worldbuilding documentation, timelines, and narrative style guides.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience developing narrative for live-service games or seasonal events.
  • Experience writing for mobile free-to-play games.
  • Familiarity with Yarn Spinner or similar narrative tools.
  • Experience writing for localization and multilingual audiences.
  • Familiarity with Good Pizza, Great Pizza and Good Coffee, Great Coffee.

About the company

TapBlaze creates casual, story-driven mobile and PC simulation games from Los Angeles. Its free-to-play titles are available on iOS, Android, and Steam and are monetized through in-app purchases and ads to reach a global audience. The flagship Good Pizza, Great Pizza lets players run a relaxed pizza shop with orders, toppings upgrades, and dialogue, focusing on a narrative experience rather than fast-paced play. The goal is to offer accessible games that reflect global diversity while maintaining a free-to-play model that works in markets with limited or no in-app purchases.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Los Angeles, California

Founded

2012

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Good Coffee, Great Coffee launched globally on Android and iOS in 2025.
  • TapBlaze still sells ad-funded access, broadening reach beyond credit-card markets.
  • The company keeps refreshing Good Pizza, Great Pizza, sustaining daily player engagement.

What critics are saying

  • TapBlaze depends on Apple and Google platform rules for discovery and monetization.
  • Good Pizza, Great Pizza dominates TapBlaze; franchise fatigue hits revenue quickly.
  • A policy shift against ads or in-app purchases would crush TapBlaze's free-to-play model.

What makes TapBlaze unique

  • Good Pizza, Great Pizza stays updated on TapBlaze's site as of 2026-09-01.
  • TapBlaze built a relaxed, story-driven cooking simulator, not a timer-mashing clone.
  • Good Coffee, Great Coffee extends the same universe across mobile and Windows.

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Benefits

  • Mentorship Program

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

23%

1 year growth

23%

2 year growth

18%
VentureBeat
Feb 27th, 2025
After pizza, TapBlaze launches Good Coffee, Great Coffee on mobile

TapBlaze, the maker of Good Pizza, Great Pizza, has branched out with the launch of Good Coffee, Great Coffee on mobile devices.

VentureBeat
Feb 27th, 2025
After Pizza, Tapblaze Launches Good Coffee, Great Coffee On Mobile

TapBlaze, the maker of Good Pizza, Great Pizza, has branched out with the launch of Good Coffee, Great Coffee on mobile devices. It launches today on iOS and Android.The game is a free-to-play title where players can buy cosmetics with real money. You may eventually be able to customize your shop and equipment.After all a whole decade refining the pizza game, it’s about time for TapBlaze to try something new. But the company was patient. For the past five years, CEO Anthony Lai and a small team have been working on the coffee game in the same artistic universe as Good Pizza, Great Pizza.Good Coffee, Great Coffee is in the same universe as Good Pizza, Great Pizza.It sounds like an awesome game in the tradition of Good Pizza, Great Pizza, which has been downloaded more than 300 million times across the globe and it is played daily by over a million players.Los Angeles-based TapBlaze has been cooking up its latest story-rich cooking business simulator with the coffee expertise of Lai, who gets a lot of joy out of making coffee and latte art. In the game, you experience the art and hustle of running your own coffee shop.“Pizza is something I grew up with