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Software Developer - Rules Engine (Arena)

At Wizards of the Coast, we connect people around the world through play and imagination. From our genre defining games like Magic: The Gathering® and Dungeons & Dragons® to our growing multiverse, we continue to innovate and build new ways to foster friendship and connection. That’s where you come in!

If you’re the one who explains the rules in your board game group…

If you think about optimal path algorithms while going for a run…

If you like engineering, science, math, and golems…

We’d like to meet you.

We implement game mechanics and game-flow features for Magic: the Gathering Arena. In this role you’ll collaborate frequently with game designers and front-end developers to deliver a snappy and engaging digital experience, but with all the strategy of authentic Magic. Some problems you’d get to tackle include:

• Improving algorithms for predictive mana payment, turn passing, and targeting.
• Resolving game state and ability data to send to the front-end client.
• Optimizing core rules to improve performance and consistency.
• Implementing that super awesome upcoming creature. You know, the one with all the teeth.

What you’ll do

• Programming the comprehensive rules of Magic. All of them (there are a lot).
• Rapidly growing the scope of our natural language parser to understand new card text
• Adding functionality and content to our automated testing framework
• Crafting tools to help your fellow developers, artists, designers, and pyromancers
• Capturing metrics and making performance improvements to our rules engine
• Investigating and fixing live bugs to support our game
• Code reviewing, brainstorming, and helping our organization grow

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of experience with object-oriented design C++ and/or Python
• Proven ability to design and implement gameplay systems
• A love of collaboration and working with diverse groups of people in various roles
• A passion for parsers, compilers and linguistics
• An enjoyment of digital card games and Magic: The Gathering
• Able to work on computer or phone for long periods of time

We are an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer

The above is intended to describe the general content of and the requirements for satisfactory performance in this position. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of the duties, responsibilities, or requirements of the position.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.