What is Video Game Design
Video game design is the craft in the game development process that focuses on designing play through fantasy and mechanics, while using rules and systems to create challenge in opposition of the player’s goal in the game.
This fundamental purpose of aligning the player’s desires and fantasy with the experience the game designer intends to create is at the heart of every great game and transcends the mediums, be it digital, card, board games and beyond.
The word game design is synonymous to video game design unless explicitly stated otherwise because the current market share domination of the digital medium.
Game design can be broken down as the following:
- Gameplay is the interaction between the player, the mechanics and the systems
- Game mechanics are anything that the player uses to interact with the game, or that the game uses to interact with the player.
- Systems are the wheels that spin inside the game, either in response to player actions or on their own.
- Core loops are the repeatable sequences the players engage in that make up the gameplay
What does a game designer do?
A video game designer is the shepherd of the game’s vision, designing the gameplay with mechanics, systems, and content through the lens of the player’s experience.
Professionally, in a game studio setting, the different types of game designers work closely with other members of the development team such as artists, programmers, and producers to ensure
- Timely delivery
- Balancing the gameplay experience
- Incorporating player feedback
- Staying up-to-date with the gaming industry
- Bringing their own creative ideas to the table
How to become a game designer professionally?
In order to become a game designer professionally, you first have to make sure game design is something you like to do
The best to do that is to go make an actual game. You can take the Build a Game Challenge where I give you templates and instructions on how to build a playable virtual tabletop prototype.
Once you confirm that here are the next steps:
Get interviews by passing the following talent filtering point in the sequential order as you move closer to job offer:
- Game design resume & cover letter – These are the initial touch points when recruiters are filtering for candidates.
- Game design portfolio – Before you get any reply, your portfolio has to catch their attention and show evidence of what they filter for.
- Game design tests – Studios tend to send design tests before you even speak with anyone from the dev team.
- Game design job interviews – in the following format and sequential order:
- Questions and answers – they ask question, you answer. Prepare yourself with these game design interview questions.
- Live mock design session – Simulate a scenario where you can demonstrate how you identify and solve design problems. (harder to fake)
- Group interviews:
- Skill fit interview: A group of game devs working on the project will interview you to see if your skills and experience fit their context.
- Cultural fit interview: The game devs your position will work closely with will interview you to see if they like to work with you.
Your first job will most like be one of the general entry-level game design positions:
- Assistant game designer
- Associate game designer
- Junior game designer
What are the types of sub-disciplines in game design?
Of course, there’s more than one way to be a game designer.
Below is a list of different types of game designers’ disciplines and their contribution to the overall experience:
- Narrative design specializes in ensuring the environment, character and quest content matches the story and theme of the world.
- Level design focuses on making interesting challenges and clear flows for the player to take as they explore.
- Mechanics designers specializes in creating features which allow players to affect the world, enemies and allies around them.
- This is my specialization
- Here that’s a beginner’s guide I put together on what is video game mechanics.
- Combat design specializes in using animation, timing and visual effects to clearly communicate success and failure in combat.
- Systems design specializes in creating interlocking parts to encourage the players to grow, explore and experiment.
- Balance design specializes in ensuring the game balance is healthy and that diverse play styles exist at a competitive level.
- Sound design specializes in making the experience feel natural, comfortable, scary, or mysterious.
- Content design, for example, is a catch-all term for designers who fill in the game after the core is built.
… and so many more, depending on the size, culture, and context of the studio and game you’re working with.
Video game design vs. video game development, what’s the difference?
From experience, many people I’ve encountered think the hard part of making a game is designing it.
While the design is hard, design is only one of many disciplines that work together to produce a game in the process of game development.
The holistic process of “game development” includes every role:
- Game designer
- Game programmer
- Game artist
- Game producer
- Marketer
- Architecture & tooling engineer
- QA engineer
- Playtest coordinators
- Community manager
- Investor
- Social media manager
- and more…
Video game development is about the process of producing the entire game.
However, the definition of the term game development is also interchangeable with the definition of game programming.
So if you’re a game developer you do the coding in the process of making the video game.
Video game design is focused specifically on the kind of emotional, technical, and intellectual experience you want the players to partake.
Many disciplines use game engines, but game designers will often get deep into scripting, logic, behavior trees, and balance numbers and visuals while communicating their ideas to the players in.
When I was younger, I believed that you had to do everything to be a game designer.
There’s a seed of truth there – but knowing the right terms will help you focus in on the design role that fits you the best!
What part does game design play in the game development process?
The design team will work with the creative director to define the sort of experience they want to create.
Early on the design team will work with the programmers to define the genre to build and the features to build for the game.
Then as the features come in, their job is to test, experience the features and provide feedback to the rest of the creative team.
So if we were to put all the roles in the context of the game development iterative process, here is how I would visualize it:
This can come in the form of personal conversations, emails, zoom calls, discord or slack messages — at the end of the day the communication, not the form is the key.
However it happens, the game designer is still responsible for making an amazing, memorable and focused experience.
Afterward, the game designer will shepherd the feature the rest of the way through the game by
- Taking player feedback
- Making small changes themselves
- Explaining larger changes to the leadership and programming teams
- Being a cheerleader for the ideas of both the team and themselves
Finally, if a game is a success, some designers may interface directly with the community to gather feedback, explain their thinking and try to ensure the long lifespan of the game.
Now, if you become a director-level game designer, your role is more closely associated with the vision of the product than other roles, but even so, the fundamentals are the same!
A lot of your time will be spent achieving buy-in and alignment, not just generating ideas for others to implement!
Explore Game Design Learning Resources:
