Game design sits under the broader field of video game development and refers to the use of creativity and design to develop a game for entertainment or educational purposes. It involves creating compelling stories, characters, goals, rules, and challenges that drive interactions with other characters, users, or objects.

Game design is an exciting, rewarding, and multi-faceted field with promising job prospects. However, becoming a game designer can be a challenging journey. Passion, patience, and persistence are essential!

What Does a Game Designer do

A game designer is the creative driver responsible for bringing a game to life. They are generally a cross between a writer, artist, and programmer.

“It’s a multidisciplinary job that often requires you to understand a little of everything,” says Troy, who has shipped over 100 titles on almost every platform and genre.

“It’s not just about playing games and having ideas. You need to not only understand how to apply your ideas into many different, and often conflicting, areas of game design; you must also understand HOW to design, WHAT to design, WHEN to design each feature, and WHY you are designing what you are designing.”

Elements Involved

While the job varies depending on the size of the studio, responsibilities may include:

• Developing the storyline, character back-stories, and dialogue
• Developing gameplay, rules, and the scoring system
• Determining the level of difficulty
• Building interfaces and environments
• Level and world design
• Programming/scripting
• Digital editing
• Image rendering
• Testing