How to Be a Game Designer
by Eric Marlow
Becoming a game designer in a proper game company is one of the most elusive positions ever created. Very few universities offer game design curricula, and most are located overseas. Few game designers are hired strait out of college. And determining what makes a good game designer is quite subjective. While a number of rules can be laid out (see The Inspiracy) , much of what is considered game design is artistic in nature, and after all - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
First things first: game development is not game design. Game development, or as it’s sometimes called “game production”, seem to be the all-inclusive words these days for anything to do with the creation of games. Certainly game design is a part of game development. But making games also includes art, coding, management, QA, localization, and a host of other areas suited to specific platform requirements. And game design is not just simply creating in-game characters. Game characters may be the sexy part of game design, but when you think about how much goes into a game these days, you realize that the characters make up only a small part of any game world.
While there may be several definitions, game design (as described by a recent article by Michael Dawson) can be thought of simply as:
• Mechanics - rules and procedures; when followed, they produce what most people call "gameplay"
• Story - dramatic elements that usually provide a rationale for the mechanics, but are not part of the mechanics themselves
• Aesthetics - visual, aural, and tactile manifestations of a game; what you see, hear, and touch
So in learning the craft of game design, how does one go about educating one’s self if there are no established courses in school? Well, let’s get one thing strait – even if you were to take game design from a well-regarded university like Full Sail or Digipen, you will still need to do a tremendous amount of self-study. You must be MOTIVATED to dive into the creation of your own games, and this will require you to just start learning the craft by experimentation.
Have you ever played a board game? I am sure at some point you’ve played Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, or maybe even Dungeons and Dragons. Each of these games has rules, some of which you might like to modify. Simply put – take a game that you already know something about and modify it. Monopoly has been redone so many times – a quick check of Hasbro’s website show at least 42 version of Monopoly – and those are the ones still in production! Maybe you can make a Philippines or Manila-specific version of Monopoly? If you did, how would you customize the game for the local market? I call the Jeepney!
Once you’ve got the hang of a paper-based or board game, then I would suggest you move to the digital world. Try to create a level in your favorite computer game. Most popular first person shooters and even some real time strategy games have either in-game world building tools, or 3rd party level builders. Some games like Roller Coaster Tycoon or Little Big Planet on the PS/3 have in-game level building tools and you can even upload your creations to share with your friends.
When you jump into game design in this way you start to see how tough, but how rewarding game design is. As soon as you and your friends start to play your creations you will find out very quickly what works and what doesn’t.
Eric Marlow is President and Studio Head for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
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