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Trading Card Game Design Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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This position is responsible for leading our team, ensuring an exceptional customer experience, and supporting the continued growth of one of Alabama's premier sports card and trading card game ...

... trading card game business. This role is responsible for driving execution on high-priority ... design, art, product, brand, licensing, and operations--ensuring alignment at all levels • ...

... design teams and visual teams, all focused on the specific product type. The Director will ensure ... Manage the profit and loss for game lines within their vertical, with support from the VP, Trading ...

Game Developer

New York, NY · On-site

$38 - $40/hr

Proven track record in tabletop game development, set design, or technical editing within trading card games or systems-heavy board games. * Profound structural understanding of physical trading card ...

About the Team Fanatics TCG is a new trading card game business, the newest member of the Fanatics ... Drive cross-functional execution across game design, art, product, brand, licensing, and operations ...

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TCG Specialist- Full-Time Do you live and breathe Pokémon, One Piece, Magic, Lorcana, or other trading card games? We're looking for someone who can help grow our TCG community through product ...

Business Strategist

Seattle, WA · On-site

$123K - $154K/yr

About the Team Fanatics TCG is a new Seattle-based trading card game studio within the Fanatics ... Partner with game design, product, and commercial teams to ensure strategic analysis is grounded in ...

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Trading Card Game Design information

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$79.5K

$130.8K

$196K

How much do trading card game design jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for trading card game design in the United States is $130,762.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $107,000.00 and $150,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Trading Card Game Design vs Board Game Design?

AspectTrading Card Game DesignBoard Game Design
CredentialsDesign experience, knowledge of card mechanics, game theoryGame mechanics, prototyping, user experience
Work EnvironmentDigital and physical card development, collaboration with artists and publishersPhysical prototypes, playtesting, manufacturing coordination
Industry UsageCollectible card games, gaming publishers, hobby storesTabletop gaming, toy companies, hobby markets

Trading Card Game Design and Board Game Design share overlapping skills like game mechanics and prototyping, but differ mainly in their focus on card-based versus physical board experiences. While both roles involve creativity and playtesting, TCG designers often work more with digital assets and collectible elements, whereas board game designers focus on physical components and player interaction. Understanding these differences helps in choosing the right career path within the gaming industry.

What is trading card game design?

Trading card game design is the process of creating the rules, mechanics, cards, and overall structure of a collectible or trading card game (TCG). Designers develop the gameplay experience, balancing strategy, randomness, and player interaction. They also work on themes, artwork, and expansions to keep the game engaging and fresh. Successful trading card game design requires creativity, playtesting, and a deep understanding of what makes games fun and replayable.

What are some common challenges faced by trading card game designers during the playtesting phase?

Trading card game designers often encounter challenges in balancing the gameplay and ensuring that no single card or strategy dominates the game. Playtesting requires designers to collect and analyze feedback from a diverse group of players, which can reveal unforeseen interactions or exploits. Additionally, designers must iterate quickly and thoughtfully, adjusting card mechanics and rules while maintaining the overall vision of the game. Collaboration with artists, developers, and marketing teams is also crucial to align the game's mechanics with its thematic and commercial goals.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Trading Card Game Designer, and why are they important?

A Trading Card Game Designer needs strong game design principles, mathematical and probability skills, and a creative understanding of gameplay balance, often supported by a background in game design or related fields. Familiarity with digital prototyping tools, playtesting platforms, and knowledge of industry-standard design software is highly beneficial. Excellent communication, collaboration, and iterative problem-solving abilities set top designers apart in this role. These skills are crucial for creating engaging, balanced, and commercially successful card games that appeal to diverse player communities.
More about Trading Card Game Design jobs
What cities are hiring for Trading Card Game Design jobs? Cities with the most Trading Card Game Design job openings:
What states have the most Trading Card Game Design jobs? States with the most job openings for Trading Card Game Design jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Trading Card Game Design jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Trading Card Game Design jobs are:
Infographic showing various Trading Card Game Design job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 62% Full Time, 33% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 92% In-person, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $130,762 per year, or $62.9 per hour.

Other

Posted 9 days ago


Key responsibilities

  • Take end-to-end ownership of high-impact product strategy projects and drive initiatives from concept through launch.

  • Define and refine the product portfolio strategy across games, sets, and collectible formats.

  • Build analytical models and synthesize market, player, and partner insights into recommendations for leadership.


Job description

About the Team

Fanatics TCG is a new Seattle-based trading card game studio within the Fanatics Collectibles family, founded by industry veterans with a long-term mandate: to build enduring franchises that live across tabletop, digital, community, and culture. We're looking for the most skilled and passionate talent in the games industry and beyond to help us create the best trading card games in the world.

Who We're Looking For

We're looking for a Business Strategist to bring analytical rigor to how Fanatics TCG makes key product and commercial decisions. This is an individual contributor role for someone coming out of management consulting, user research, or a similar analytically demanding environment - someone who is equally at home building a bottoms-up financial model and presenting a clear recommendation to senior leadership. You'll work directly with studio leadership and cross-functional partners to size opportunities, pressure-test assumptions, and turn complex data into decisions.

Responsibilities
  • Build the financial and analytical models that underpin portfolio strategy, release planning, and investment prioritization, including business case development, scenario modeling, and forecast analysis
  • Size and evaluate new product opportunities, sales formats, and business models, synthesizing market data, player behavior, and competitive intelligence into structured go/no-go recommendations
  • Develop and maintain frameworks for tracking portfolio health, product performance, and commercial outcomes across the TCG business
  • Synthesize qualitative and quantitative inputs - player research, retailer data, market trends - into clear, concise materials for senior leadership decision-making
  • Partner with game design, product, and commercial teams to ensure strategic analysis is grounded in operational reality and translates into actionable plans
Qualifications & Experience
  • 4-7 years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, private equity, or corporate strategy
  • Exceptional financial modeling and quantitative analysis skills - able to build complex models from scratch and defend every assumption
  • Strong structured thinking: you break ambiguous problems into clear frameworks and know how to get to a recommendation with incomplete information
  • Polished written and verbal communicator; experienced distilling complex analysis into crisp executive-ready materials
  • Highly self-directed - comfortable owning a workstream independently without heavy oversight
  • Genuine curiosity about or experience in trading card games, collectibles, gaming, or fan-driven consumer categories is a plus
Location

All employees of Fanatics TCG are expected to be onsite in our Seattle office five days per week.

Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don't fall victim to fraud.  Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Feel free to ask your recruiter for a phone call or other type of communication for interview, and ensure your communication is coming from a Fanatics email address (including @collectfanatics.com).  For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers