The Role of a Great Game Designer
This book is for game designers of all experience levels and for the teams, developers, and support staff they work with. It focuses on what game designers really own, the skills they need to be successful, and sheds light on some widespread misconceptions of the job. Misconceptions like “game designers control the game”, “game designers know best”, and the dreaded “coolest idea wins”. These misconceptions can cause designers to focus on the wrong values or create production teams that don’t know how to effectively utilize their design teams. I wrote this book to be an easy-to-read, practical guide for game designers and the teams they work with.
The Game Designer
While anyone can design games, not everyone is a Game Designer. The Game Designer is a role on a team. Working successfully with that team is as important as the design itself. Success starts with understanding what the Game Designer truly owns: The Vision.
A Problem-Solving Approach
Game Design is not about ideation. Ideas are everywhere; in every mind, every game, and every experience. Everyone has ideas. Game Design is about being open to all ideas from every source and honing in on the ones needed to solve the current problem at hand. Game Design is about Problem Solving.
The Right Skills for Success
Building a solid vision and driving a successful design process are great challenges. Most designers focus on developing skills in these areas. But the toughest challenge is getting the entire team to believe in that vision, follow it, and feel ownership in the features that are designed. These skills haven’t been focused on enough in our industry but they ensure even greater success.
