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Get Noticed by Game Design Hiring Managers | David Zheng | #1

Funsmith Fireside Chats Episode #1

Guest: David Zheng

David Zheng is the behind the scenes Co-Founder of Game Design Skills. He’s a growth marketing strategist and an avid self learner who has acquired a range of skills during his entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, we had a nuanced discussion on how to increase your chances on getting your foot in the door in the gaming industry as an aspiring game designer. How to get get noticed by hiring managers and best practices for your game design portfolio.

Watch or listen to the full episode below:

Audio:

#1: David Zheng – Get Noticed by Game Design Hiring Managers

Connect with Alex:

Twitter

Connect with Ari:

Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Resources:

Game Design Skills

International – Game Developers Association

Game Jams

GDS student game jam: Paper Soldiers gameplay recording

GDS student game jam: Paper Soldiers creative process

Replicating Game Mechanics

God Of War 4 every Kratos & son super attacks reference

Mix and Jam Youtube channel

GDC Talk: Magic the Gathering – 20 years 20 lessons

Free Game Design Learning Resources:

What is Video Game Mechanics (Beginner’s Guide)

How to Become a Video Game Designer

How to Write Game Design Document with Examples

Game Design Portfolio, with Examples (Guide)

Topic Breakdown (with Timestamp)

0:00 – Introduction

2:44 – How to Capture and Keep The Attention of job interviewers and ultimately get your foot in the gaming industry door

5:08 – Live exercise for evaluating and hiring a character designer

10:40 – How to properly approach your game design job interview

12:40 – How to find your fit in a new work environment

15:57 – How to get your resume past the automated screening system and into human hands

18:20 – What should I include in my game design resume to stand out from the competition? (Portfolio)

19:45 Definitive process of getting into game industry?

22:08 – Common problems when looking for your first game design job and how to overcome them

24:42 – How to showcase your game in a portfolio in a way that demonstrates your skills

27:32 – How to push against your limits and think through other spaces that are adjacent to your skill set?

29:26 – What are some essential tools that aspiring Game Designer can utilize to drill and exercise?

33:06 – How generate new ideas and get inspiration from other work without plagiarizing?

36:57 – What are some accessible ways for an aspiring game designer to accumulate experience?

40:07 – Some soft skills to make use of when building your game design portfolio

42:28 – How have group projects in college helped you adapt to the real world?

45:55 – Join online communities to network and to meet people outside of your skillset

47:31 – Why being collaborative is a crucial skillset in the workspace?

50:00 – Common way most Interviewees fail out of their interview

51:33 – What is the nature of giving people advise?

52:47 – Best place for the audience/viewers to get more information and watch more game design content?

What was your favorite part of this episode?

Please let us know in the comments below.

By the way, whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways to help you start or level-up your game design career:

1. First Principles of Game Design: Skill Development Program: Join game devs who got hired or promoted across 51 AAA and Indie game studios including Riot, Blizzard, Ubisoft, Bethesda, and etc.

Improve player retention and word of mouth by learning to accurately diagnose why the players are losing interest in any game and how to adjust accordingly – one of the main skills studios hire for.

2. Game Design Mentorship – Get access to live weekly video calls and chat feedback support directly from veteran game designer with 25 years of industry experience (see example sessions).

3. Game Design Career Goal Strategy Workshop: A live workshop to help you figure out exact action steps to reach your goal, whether you aim to

  • Break into the video game industry
  • Get promoted (or pivot) from your current position
  • Ship a successful Indie game

Join the Funsmith Tavern to get exclusive game dev tips that I don’t share anywhere else

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The Funsmith Tavern

Weekly Game Design Newsletter

Level-up your game design knowledge, skills, career, and network

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Weekly Game Design Newsletter

Level-up your game design knowledge, skills, career, and network

Bi-weekly on Tuesday, get a shot of 2-min TL:DR update in your inbox on the latest

All tactics. No fluff . Pro advice only. Unsubscribe any time

EXPERIENCE & BACKGROUND:

[STUDIO] Blizzard Entertainment: Content, mechanics, and systems designer

(Creator of Apex Legends & former Creative Director at Respawn)

[GAME] World of Warcraft: MMORPG with 8.5 million average monthly players, won Gamer’s Choice Award – Fan Favorite MMORPG, VGX Award for Best PC Game, Best RPG, and Most Addictive Video Game.

  • Classic:
    • Designed Cosmos UI
    • Designed part of Raid Team for Naxxramas
  • Burning Crusade:
    • Designed the raid bosses Karazhan, Black Temple, Zul’Aman
    • Designed the Outlands content
    • Designed The Underbog including bosses:
      • Hungarfen, Ghaz’an, Swamplord Musel’ik, and The Black Stalker
    • Designed the Hellfire Ramparts final bosses Nazan & Vazruden
    • Designed the Return to Karazhan bosses: Attumen the Huntsman, Big Bad Wolf, Shades of Aran, Netherspite, Nightbane
  • Wrath of the Lich King:
    • Designed quest content, events and PvP areas of Wintergrasp
    • Designed Vehicle system
    • Designed the Death Knight talent trees
    • Designed the Lord Marrowgar raid
  • Cataclysm:
    • Designed quest content
    • Designed Deathwing Overworld encounters
    • Designed Morchok and Rhyolith raid fights
  • Mists of Pandaria: 
    • Overhauled the entire Warlock class – Best player rated version through all expansion packs
    • Designed pet battle combat engine and scripted client scene

[GAME] StarCraft 2: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Diablo 3: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Overwatch: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Hearthstone: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[STUDIO] Riot Games: Systems designer, in-studio game design instructor

(Former Global Communications Lead for League of Legends)
(Former Technical Game Designer at Riot Games)

[GAME] League of Legends: Team-based strategy MOBA with 152 million average active monthly players, won The Game Award for Best Esports Game and BAFTA Best Persistent Game Award.

  • Redesigned Xerath Champion by interfacing with community
  • Reworked the support income system for season 4
  • Redesigned the Ward system
  • Assisted in development of new trinket system
  • Heavily expanded internal tools and features for design team
  • Improved UI indicators to improve clarity of allied behaviour

[OTHER GAMES] Under NDA: Developed multiple unreleased projects in R&D

Game Design Instructor: Coached and mentored associate designers on gameplay and mechanics

[STUDIO] Moon Studios: Senior game designer

(Former Lead Game Designer at Moon Studios)

[GAME] Ori & The Will of The Wisps: 2m total players (423k people finished it) with average 92.8/100 ratings by 23 top game rating sites (including Steam and Nintendo Switch).

  • Designed the weapon and Shard systems
  • Worked on combat balance
  • Designed most of the User Interface

[GAME] Unreleased RPG project

  • Designed core combat
  • High-level design content planning
  • Game systems design
  • Game design documentation
  • Gameplay systems engineering
  • Tools design
  • Photon Quantum implementation of gameplay

[VC FUNDED STARTUP] SnackPass: Social food ordering platform with 500k active users $400m+ valuation

[PROJECT] Tochi: Creative director (hybrid of game design, production and leading the product team)

  • Lead artists, engineers, and animators on the release the gamification system to incentivize long-term customers with social bonds and a shared experience through the app

[CONSULTING] Atomech: Founder / Game Design Consultant

[STUDIOS] Studio Pixanoh + 13 other indie game studios (under NDA):

  • Helped build, train and establish the design teams
  • Established unique combat niche and overall design philosophy
  • Tracked quality, consistency and feedback methods
  • Established company meeting structure and culture

Game Design Keynotes:

(Former Global Head of HR for Wargaming and Riot Games)
  • Tencent Studio
  • Wargaming
  • USC (University of Southern California)
  • RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology)
  • US AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
  • UFIEA (University of Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy)
  • West Gaming Foundation
  • Kyoto Computer Gakuin – Kyoto, Japan