Leveling Up as a Video Game Designer, Part I

Even if you don’t have ruthless Gordon Gecko-esque ambition, you probably want to get ahead in your game designer job – or at least get a pay raise.

But if you want to get ahead as a video game designer, you need to understand the expectation for a professional at different levels. A wise man once said, fake it until you make it. But you can’t fake it until you know what “it” actually is. Part I of this series explores the expectations around different seniority levels for a video game designer.

A useful book I’ve found that influenced some of my thinking is How to Lead. It’s a terribly, terribly British book but I’ve found it to be a worthy read and full of pragmatic career advice.

So when I think about the qualities that make up a professional video game designer, I basically boil it down to three general headings:

Professional Skills
This covers the necessary skills to actually do the job. If you’re a game designer, it’s how to design games. If you’re an artist, it’s how to illustrate and model. If you’re a software engineer, it’s how to code. If you’re a producer – it’s how to book meetings that keep the people above from doing their work (and yes – I have been a producer)

People Skills
This combines the ability to communicate, act like a team member, play nice with others and all those other skills that they were supposed to teach you in Kindergarten (but are often shockingly absent in adults)

Attitude
This represents a mindset and outlook. It is how you carry yourself in your job. Your demeanor is often one of the most overlooked – but vital – career assets. Quite simply, people will follow someone who has the attitude of a leader.

So what does all this mean for the different levels of video game designer?

The Junior Designer
Or, you are no longer a game player. 

Every game designer starts out as a game player. But they make a critical leap – from being the audience to being the creator. The game is a lot different in the bleachers than it is on the playing field.

A junior game designer is able to think critically about design and understand the difference between being a game consumer and a game creator. Many things a player thinks they want for a game, they actually would hate if they had to play it. (perma-death is a recurring theme in this area, as well as shared worlds where everyone can make a profound impact on the world). Junior designers have the ability to pull apart and dissect a game design, understanding that certain design decisions were made for a reason and what kind of results those decisions might produce. They demonstrate an appreciation for the aesthetics of game design, which are the factors that go into a good design as opposed to a bad design. They may not always be able to make those calls yet – but they can typically recognize them after the fact.

The junior designer demonstrates appropriate behavior for a team environment and professional setting. They understand that they have entered the professional game industry and this is a business setting. Frequently, a first job in the game industry is a dream come true for a young game designer – it’s sort of like when a teenager get out from under Mom and Dad’s thumb and goes off to university. But while it’s often easy to mistake the casual environment of a video game company for a college dormitory – there are some definite differences. Showering at least semi-frequently is mandatory and please leave the “No Fat Chicks” t-shirts at home.

Finally, the most important things a junior game designer can demonstrate is an open mind, a flexible attitude and a willingness to take direction and learn. They understand their role is to become educated and grow on a design team. Often this means, a junior goes the dog work. But this isn’t a punishment – this is work that needs doing and believe me, you’ll understand a lot about how items in games work after you’ve had to do the data entry work for a few hundred.

Basically, a junior game designer takes on well-defined assignments with enthusiasm and an interest in doing the best work they can.

In part II, I’ll explore what makes a full Designer and a Senior Designer. And in part III, we talk about the rarified heights of being a Lead Designer and Creative Director.

- Sean Dugan is a video game designer who dimly remembers a time when "junior" was applied to him. 


Image by Frank Black Noir via Creative Commons