How to write a game UI job post that gets good applicants

Why most posts get the wrong people

Three failures account for nearly all of it, and all three are about the same thing: an experienced designer cannot tell from your post whether this project is real.

1. No scope. "We need UI for our game" could be three screens or eighty. Nobody can quote it, so the people who reply are guessing, and their number will change.
2. No budget. Withholding it is meant to preserve negotiating room. What it actually does is signal either that there is no budget or that you have not thought about it. Both make good designers scroll on.
3. Nothing to look at. No build, no trailer, no screenshots. Designers evaluate projects the way you evaluate them: on evidence.

What a good post contains

The template

Copy this, replace the bracketed parts, delete anything that does not apply. It takes ten minutes and it will outperform a post that took an hour of careful vagueness.

1. 01

   Title

   Game UI/UX designer for [genre] on [platform], [rough screen count] screens, [budget range]. Put the useful facts in the title. Most people never read further than it.

2. 02

   The game

   "[Name] is a [genre] for [platform]. [One sentence on the hook.] We are [team size] people, [stage: in production / pre-alpha / preparing a demo]. Here it is: [link to build, trailer or screenshots]."

3. 03

   What we need

   "We need [design only / design and Unity implementation] for roughly [N] screens: [list them, even roughly, e.g. main menu, settings, pause, results, HUD, shop, inventory]. Inputs: [mouse and keyboard / gamepad / touch]. Engine: [Unity / Unreal / custom]."

4. 04

   What already exists

   "We have [art direction / a style guide / placeholder UI / nothing yet]. [If wireframes or a flow exist, say so.] You would be [starting from scratch / working within an established look]."

5. 05

   Budget and timeline

   "Budget: [$X to $Y] for the full scope, or [$X/hr] if you prefer hourly. Timeline: we need this by [date], which is tied to [demo / festival / publisher milestone]."

6. 06

   How to apply

   "Please send: a portfolio link with at least one full flow rather than single screens, a rough estimate for the scope above, and your availability. We will reply to everyone within [N] days and shortlist for a short call."

That last promise matters. Saying you will reply to everyone, and then doing it, is unusual enough that it improves your response rate on the next post you write.

The phrases that repel good designers

Yes, name a budget

This is the most common objection, so it is worth answering directly. The fear is that naming a number means paying the top of it. In practice the opposite happens.

• A range filters in both directions. People too expensive for you self-deselect instead of consuming your week. People far below it become visible as the wrong fit.
• It gets you real quotes. Without a range, quotes are guesses at what you might accept, and they move once scope is discussed.
• It signals seriousness. Anyone who has freelanced for a year has been burned by a project with no budget. Naming one moves you into a different pile.
• You can shape scope around it. "We have $4,000, what does that buy?" is a genuinely good brief, and experienced designers answer it well.
• It saves the awkward part. The money conversation is going to happen. Having it first costs a line of text instead of two weeks.

If you truly do not know what to name, the ranges by scope in what game UI/UX design actually costs will get you within the right band.

Where to post it

The post and the channel interact: the same text performs very differently in a marketplace and a community. Full comparison in where to find a game UI/UX designer.

• Marketplaces: lead with scope and budget. Invite people directly as well as posting; the strongest freelancers are often not scanning the board.
• Games job boards: lead with the game and the team. This audience selects on the project, not the transaction.
• Communities and Discords: read the rules first, always state the budget, and never post revenue-share as a fee.
• Direct outreach: do not paste the post. Write six specific lines instead, referencing something in their actual work.

Screening the replies quickly

A decent post produces fifteen to forty replies. You can get to a shortlist of five in under an hour with a fixed order.

1. Delete anything generic. If it does not mention your game specifically, it was sent to fifty people. This removes half the pile in five minutes.
2. Open the portfolio before reading the pitch. Two minutes each. Look for full flows, the unglamorous screens, and written reasoning. How to read a portfolio properly is in how to hire a game UI/UX designer.
3. Check they answered the scope. A reply with an estimate and a question about your states is worth ten enthusiastic ones.
4. Value the good questions most. The strongest signal in the whole process is someone asking what you left out.
5. Shortlist three to five. Any more and the calls stop being useful.
6. Reply to everyone else. One line. It costs ten minutes and it is the reason people take your next post seriously.

The first reply you send

Keep it short, and put the next step in it. Ambiguity here loses good candidates to faster clients.

That message does four things at once: it proves you looked at their work, it asks the two questions that reveal experience, it sets a timeline, and it tells them the test will be paid. Designers answer that message.

What happens after you pick someone

• Agree four things in writing before work starts: the screen list, the number of revision rounds and what counts as one, the delivery format, and who owns the source files.
• Run a paid test of two to four hours on work adjacent to yours, not on the screens you need delivered.
• Name one decision maker. Design by committee is the most expensive process in games.
• Book your own feedback time. Two working days per milestone, one consolidated list. Late feedback is the most common cause of missed deadlines, and it is entirely within your control.