How to Become a Game Designer
What is the mythical position of Game Designer? Well, it’s someone who designs the game. Duh. There’s a whole lot more to it, like writing, scripting, designing for your audience rather than yourself, being a hard worker, coming up with great ideas, and all the rest, but I’m not going to tackle that question right now. 
What I did decide to tackle, however, was how to become a game designer. My most recent article for The Escapist is appropriately entitled, “How to Become a Game Designer.” If you’re thinking about becoming one, I suggest giving it a read, and please feel free to drop feedback here. Enjoy!
“You aren’t a better designer than the designers on the project you’re testing. You aren’t more knowledgeable about games than everyone else at the company. You aren’t the only person being underpaid and overworked. You don’t deserve that coveted game design position more than the next guy.”
Not sure thats the best advice. You should always feel your better than someone else.I would say think those thoughts but keep them to yourself
. Someone once told me when your working for someone “make them look like a superstar then take that position” basically meaning work hard for them make them look good. That person gets promoted and you slide into that position.
That actually is good advice, and it applies to any job you take. We can walk around soaked in our own egos, or we can listen humbly to those around us who have already learned from mistakes we’re about to make. I learn something new every day, from superiors, subordinates, and peers. Rank doesn’t matter. Results do.
I’ve worked in QA, CS, and Doc, and have sat in countless meetings with programmers, developers, and designers. Everyone brings something to the table. When we leave our egos outside, when we focus on the task at hand, when we each understand what everyone needs and why, where our cog sits in relation to the overall clock, we can shift our attitudes and behaviors so work gets done, on time, with quality, and a minimum of rework.
That doesn’t always happen, but as long as you’re not executing a hostile takeover [for a particular position], at least you tried the courtier’s approach. You might want to read “The 48 Laws of Power.” Even if you don’t buy into the Machiavellian way, the book still offers a fascinating interpretation of history. You’ll also find that Law 1 is similar to the advice you were given.
I agree with what your saying Thermoses, but telling yourself your not better etc is a loser mentality. I guess I believe in positive thinking
Morgan thank you , will pick up that book
Besides I don’t have an ego, I’m too good for that
No, by limiting your train of thought to a linear “better/worse than the next guy”, you reduce your ability to learn, collaborate, and succeed. Right now you know a hell of a lot more than you did ten years ago. And in ten years, you’ll know a hell of a lot more than you do right now. But if you walk around with a chip on your shoulder, you’ll miss a lot.
And yes, Robert Greene is a great strategist. His blog (www.powerseductionandwar.com) is an interesting read.
The real point of telling yourself that is not to feel like a loser, it’s to realize you are not better than everyone else. Just about every game developer has an ego, and I consider myself a prime example. What I had to realize is that I’m not necessarily better at everything than everyone, or even if I am, I’m not the only one working on the game, and therefore I need to let people do their jobs instead of stick my fingers in every little detail of the game. What’s most important about the comment in the article is that you need to at least act like you aren’t Captain Superior when you are in QA, or you aren’t getting very far.
To me it seems that it’s all about finding strengths and weaknesses. And I tell you one thing, it’s helped me immensely to be able to find the strengths in others that “fill in the gaps” in what I may be missing.
I know what skills I have. I do my job to the best of my ability, I work hard, and I’m willing to work hard (stay late, take on extra projects, etc.). Management notices.
Not to mention that sometimes, those who think they are the best are arrogant, and violate the first law of humanity:
Law 1: Don't be a a-holeOnce again, management notices. Sometimes it’s not about just being the best. It’s about who works well with the team.
Being the “best” isn’t always about the individual, can’t you or I be apart of a team and know were the best at whatever we are working on? All I’m trying to say is think positive, know you belong.
Well that is entirely different. You are now talking about the collective, rather than the individual.
Not if the individual is apart of the collective. If said individual thinks he is the best wouldn’t he feel the team he is apart of is the best?
Inflated ego destroys more games than it creates.
A dose of over-ego will narrow your viewpoint and that is the death of recognizing the good ideas from other people, no matter their source. At that point you’d automatically limit yourself, and thus, counteract the whole intention of trying to grow as a game designer. Confidence is different and not a bad thing, but a good designer is an exquisite problem solver and many problems require compromise or fusions of ideas.
A good practice to get prepared for game design is to try a few trials. Game design is about producing on demand. Anyone can have a good idea for a quest when they spend a month mulling it over. But do some time experiments to see how good of a quest you can come up with in an hour including all the steps and dialogue. Or see how many different spells and abilities you can think of in 15 minutes. Set boundaries for yourself then try it again. Review it the next day and see where you think things could improve. These kind of thought experiments under constraints can sometimes help hone the problem solving abilities that you’ll need as a designer.
Just like a writer, or a painter, or a musician, good game design is a discipline and you can practice. A game designer can never shut that part of their brain off. They are always analyzing, devising new mechanics, thinking about what they can draw out of the movie they just watched to apply it to some game. Once you start thinking in that mode then it gets easier and easier until the connections in a game and relationships between mechanics and content become second nature.
Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. Often, I hear someone talk about how they are good, but the rest of their team …
What I’m trying to get at is that the sum total is greater than the individual.
Nice article. I’ll send it to my 13 year old, who I believe will be a game designer, some day. He was excited because he got “Media Technology” as a class this year and will be learning Flash and Photoshop. And then 3DS Max/Maya stuff in high school, next year. Flash I think is Generation Y’s version of MS Basic.
I did the temp testing thing for a week once, more as a way to get a free preview of a game I was going to buy anyway. Never seen people compete so hard for an $8/hour job. For my part, I was like thanks for the gas money but really, can we call this gratis, cause I don’t want to complicate my taxes? It’s like public school teachers, I guess.
Also, regularly baking cookies for the whole office regularly may help, on top of single-minded persistence and determination!