Video game design learning resources, rooted in real-world practice
Game Design Skills is the all-encompassing game design textbook. Our archives cover everything from crafting gameplay mechanics to structuring a narrative, to game artwork, dev cycles, marketing, and beyond.
We exclusively work with active game design experts. Each designer shares their years of accumulated knowledge and firsthand experience through interactive bootcamps and game dev subtopic articles.
Our Story
Game Design Skills by Funsmiths LLC is Co-Founded in 2016, located in Los Angeles, California.
Game Design Skills was created by Alex Brazie, a prolific game designer who’s led teams for and personally worked on League of Legends, numerous World of Warcraft expansions, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Our Mission
Our mission is to make practical industry level game design education accessible to help game devs level up their skills to work on video games for a living by either
- Shipping (and monetizing) their own indie titles
- Or working for studios
We focus on gameplay goal-driven learning—teaching the mental and technical tools in the context of crafting meaningful player experiences, not just aimless tutorials.
A Note From Our CEO
“There’s a flood of information now, some of it credible and much of it speculative by people who haven’t done the work, particularly on Youtube.
Many studios are still just grinding directionless iteration cycles without understanding the guiding principles that can make their games great.”
-Alex Brazie
Our Contributors
Alexander is a game designer with 25+ years of experience in both AAA and indie studios, having worked on titles like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Ori and The Will of The Wisps.
Nathan Kellman is a Level Designer at Escape Velocity Entertainment and lead instructor at Game Design Skills. Nathan has created levels for Diablo 4 and worked with Lost Boys Interactive.
Kelly Bender is a prolific Narrative Designer and Game Writer and lead instructor at Game Design Skills. Kelly has written for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, The Walking Dead: Survivors, Age of Mythology, and 30+ more AAA, mobile, and VR titles.
Brandon Dolinski is a Level Designer and guest instructor at Game Design Skills. Brandon was the World Designer Lead on Minecraft Legends and Level Designer for Guardians of the Galaxy and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Celia Wagar is a multidisciplinary Game Designer and an adjunct instructor at Game Design Skills. Celia has consulted on Adult Swim Games’s FPS:DESYNC.
Mike Breese is currently a senior game systems designer working on Wild Rift at Riot Games, where he has worked on the Elemental Rift update, along with several champions, modes, and systems releases.
Christine Brownell is a Live Ops Director for Sumo Digital and guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Christine has content, mechanics, systems, and live balance design experience with World of Warcraft and The Sims Social.
John Ryan is a multi-talented Narrative Designer and guest contributor at Game Design Skills. John has worked on Guild Wars, Destiny, Horizon, Forza, and Marvel’s Iron Man.
Isaiah Everin is a Senior Combat Designer and guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Isaiah is currently working on the Perfect Dark reboot at Crystal Dynamics.
Nathan Scott is a writer and game designer who specializes in narrative design. He has worked as a game designer on Hogwarts Legacy and Hard Light Vector.
Sara Costa is the Design Director at Digital Sun Studio and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Sara directed The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story, masterminding all of the game’s bosses.
Paolo Gambardella is a Game Designer with 10+ years of experience and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Paolo has worked with Scopely and Digital Chocolate on numerous free-to-play mobile games.
David Leary is a Game Producer/former Lead Game Designer with 25+ years of experience and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. David has worked with Westwood, Ensemble, Robot, and BonusXP.
Hytham Morsy is the Animation Director for Brass Lion Entertainment and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Hytham has managed 60-person design teams on Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Ryan Omega is a GameMaster, Live Experience Designer, Video Producer, and guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Ryan created RealityRP for DnDLive2020 for Wizards of the Coast and the Malibu Daydream Experience (aka “Barbie LARP”) at San Diego Comic Con, 2023.
Jacob Vander Ende is a Game Designer and guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Jacob runs Spriteborne studio, has self-published numerous commercial board games, and was nominated for the Game of the Year award.
Sam Cuevas is a Game UI and UX Designer and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Sam has worked on indie and AAA games including Minecraft and Forza Motorsport 8 since 2020.
Johan Toresson is the Head of Scouting at Raw Fury and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Johan has worked with games incubators and triple helix organizations.
Mary Rukavina (AKA Erythia) is the Director of Creativity at Twin Atlas and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Mary’s Roblox game design resume includes Horse Life, Creature of Sonaria, Dragon Adventures, and Feline’s Destiny.
Itay is a veteran Game Designer and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Itay shares his expertise in both technical implementation and gameplay design.
Efe is a game artist with over 5 years of experience and a guest contributor at Game Design Skills. Efe is currently the Art Lead at Circle Games.
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