How to Become a Game Designer

Becoming a game designer is one of those careers that sounds too good to be true. It’s like astronaut, actor, or rock star – one of those jobs you dream of for years but never think will really come true.

In practice, becoming a game designer is actually a lot more viable than many people think. There are plenty of ways into a game design career path and the best part is that you can start at almost any age.

So let’s take a closer look at the role and responsibilities of a game designer as well as the steps you can take to become one.

Is Game Design a Good Career?

Becoming a game designer – like any job – isn’t for everybody. For some people it’s an excellent career that gets them everything they want. For others it can be stressful, frustrating, and exhausting. It’s all about what you want out of your career.

In terms of money, game design can pay well but there are much more viable options. You’ll have to work hard for your money, especially if you’re not bringing a whole heap of passion to the table.

That said, if you are passionate about games and game design then it’s the type of job that can easily become all consuming. In fact many happy and successful game designers have to set careful boundaries between their work and personal life in order to stop themselves from becoming workaholics.

AAA vs Indie

Of course, not every game design job is made equal. Game design is a huge discipline and there’s a whole world of difference between the experience of solo game developers – for whom design is just one of their many hats – and huge AAA studios.

Some people absolutely thrive in a studio environment. They enjoy the creative problem solving of game design but also appreciate being limited to a specific problem space. They don’t mind working in large teams and are happy to navigate company politics.

And then you have indie developers for whom team sizes can vary hugely. These tend to be better suited to designers who want to have a strong creative voice along with the freedom to pursue wilder ideas. Of course indie comes with its own problems. Funding, if there is any, will always be tighter. The stress factor is higher. You have more freedom and more responsibility.

Becoming a Game Designer

With all that in mind, it’s important to state that there isn’t a clean line between indie and AAA. In fact, many professional game designers flit between the two over the course of their career. Some start by building small personal projects and use that as a portfolio to get into the industry. Others approach the industry via the college route, sometimes deciding to go solo or join a smaller studio after gaining insight and experience from major productions.

And this brings us to our most important point about a game design career path. There is no one set route in game design. Unlike becoming a sports coach or a nurse there’s no need for qualifications or academic experience. Going to college for game design can help but only in the experience, knowledge, and networking it will buy you.

Or, to put it another way, you are free to forge your own path. It takes a lot of time, skill, and effort. You need to have a really solid portfolio and there’s no shortcut to getting it. But, whether it’s game design or any other job in the industry, what hirers really want to see is someone with proveable skills who’ll be an asset to their team.

So if you want to be a game designer, then the best thing you can do is start designing games.