About Villainous Games Studio
What is Villainous Games Studio?
Villainous Games Studio is an independent UK game development studio dedicated to crafting "highly polished and unusual horror games." Best known for the Horror Stories anthology — PLEASE COMPLY (a short interactive horror experience built around a dark twist on Maslow's hierarchy of needs) and Welcome Home (a murder mystery in two timelines, with the player taking the role of both murderer and investigator) — the studio's flagship 2024 release is Harvest Hunt, a stealth-focused survival-horror roguelite in which the player is the Warden, protecting the village of Luna Nova from a creature called the Devourer.
Alongside game development, the studio hosts the Level Design Podcast, a bi-weekly show on game development through the lens of level design (co-hosted by Mark Drew, Jonny Wilson, Rob McLachlan and Valentina Chrysostomou and distributed across Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor).
The studio is small but experienced — its mission, as stated on the homepage, is "to make our studio the absolute best place to work, where everyone feels valued and appreciated."
Where will I work?
Villainous Games Studio is fully remote. As they put it: "Remote work means you can work from the comfort of your home or anywhere you wish!" There is no expectation of office-based work.
What is the Villainous Games team like?
The team is small and senior. Three named leads run things day to day: Mark Drew (Director), Valentina Chrysostomou (Game Director) and Uriel Cordas (Art Lead). The studio explicitly says: "Our team is small but experienced. While each one of us has a different background in a specific aspect of game development, everyone's opinion is heard and taken into account no matter their expertise."
Inclusivity is a stated operating principle: they "place a strong emphasis on inclusivity and actively work towards building a diverse team" and have a zero-tolerance approach to harassment. With the Level Design Podcast as an open educational output, the team punches above its weight in the indie-horror scene.
Work-Life Balance
Villainous Games has implemented a 4-day work week with Mondays off and full pay, paired with an explicit "absolutely no crunch" policy — unusual in the games industry, where crunch is normalised. The studio also offers flexible work hours on top of the shorter week.
"Duvet days" are an explicitly named benefit: "Duvet days for when you need to snuggle and shut the world out for a day." It's the operating reality of "we believe that the best games are created in a positive environment."
Perks and Benefits
- 4-day work week with Mondays off, full pay
- Absolutely no crunch policy
- Flexible work hours on top of the shorter week
- Duvet days for when you need to shut the world out
- Fully remote work from anywhere
- Generous holiday policy on top of the 4-day week
- Zero-tolerance harassment + active diversity / inclusion practice
- Level Design Podcast as a team education + visibility platform