How to Become a Video Game Designer!

A Video Game Designer career is one of the most desired jobs in video games. This video provides tips on how to become a video game designer and create game designs.

When we think of the “rockstars” of the game industry, we immediately think of people like Tim Shafer, Hideo Kojima, SUDA51, and Shigeru Miyamoto. What do these heroes have in common? They’re all game designers! Great game designers have built entire industries and have shaped culture as we know it. So it’s easy to see why there are a lot of people dreaming of becoming game designers.

As we’ve seen in our previous video, the barrier to entry for making games is lower than it’s ever been - you can start becoming a video game designer today! So where do you start? We ‘re going to tell you all you need to know about what a video game designer does, and how to get started on a career path in game design today.

First, we are going to review the role of the game design and the type of work they do. We will also review the common types of design specialities in the game space.

Next we will review how to become a video game designer - including how to kick off your career and the commonly used paths for climbing up the ladder.

Also, we will review how to separate yourself from all of the other people looking to become video game designers. What skills to develop and how to become more valuable.

Next we discuss the good and bad of the game designer role. What are the perks and the challenges on a day to day basis.

We will also reveal the typical career progression for a video game designer - and what roles they can graduate to.

Finally, we will review some good books to check out if you want to read more about making great video game design.

We are Ask Gamedev and this is how to become a video game designer in 2018.

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[AskGamedev]

If you like this video - check out these recent game industry career videos by Ask GameDev:

[Obey]

0:08 they are all *GAME DESIGNERS, YES EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY*

[GameDesignWithChris]

I agree, Game Designers need to wear a lot of different hats. I really liked how you explained that in your video. I believe communication is the main strength of a Game Designer.

[Ledwow]

I just want a job where i walk around the office of game designers and animators and tell them what would be better and “hey that’s really cool but if you made it like this the fans would love it more” just giving them pointers of what fans like since i am a huge video game enthusiast

[Grimdehawk]

Thank you, I know this video is almost 2 years old but it has been a huge help to see the different areas in game design and what they infer.

[enzobuzzatti]

The music was the same volume as your voice, but good video

[tjx]

It's video like these that keep me motivated! The book that I've found quite pragmatic when it comes to video game design is "The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design" by Flint Dille. Even though it's from 2007, it still provides a great insight into what video game design and writing is and what are the roles that one has to fulfill as a designer. It also teaches how to create a game design document.

[hugovanwijngaarden]

You should really do something about the background music!
Its really distracting

[AskGamedev]

Thanks for Watching everyone! What games do you think have great or unique design? Please let us know in the comments below!

[bbokgomu]

5:45
I highly recommend the second book if anyone is struggling to decide which one to pick up first.

[azx]

Dark Souls. Dark Souls flips every game design rule on it's head and it works because they really understand games on a deeper level. If you wanna see how hard this is just go play Dark Souls 2 or 3 because the same devs failed to recreate it twice.

[blaze]

i think its also important to clarify what a game designer isn't; an "ideas guy". its not a role where you get to have 'awesome ideas', then have the artists or engineers do all the work for you; its a role where you have to put in a lot of work to flesh out the nitty-gritty technical details of your systems or designs, and work/communicate WITH the other parts of the team effectively to make one cohesive vision of the game.

not saying that necessarily to put people off; but game design in particular draws a particular kind of person/mindset that thinks the role will let them tell other people their vague ideas and sit back while said people do all the work "implementing their genius"... the term "ideas guy" has a negative connotation in creative industries for a reason.

[oRitual]

ghost of tsushima w/ the wind guiding you made me want to become a video game designer. i thought it was so cool because you don’t need a map or your HUD to tell you where to go, just follow the wind

[draylonbledsoe]

Just starting my journey and came across this info gold mine. So will stick around and see what I can pick up. I hear about these books? I am going to do some more research to get into it.

[aryangharde]

Thank for such a video explaining about this career option. I am currently trying to figure out what can I approach as a career option and listing them and cancelling them out after getting an overlook of the aspects of that career and the fact if I really have interest in it and can do it. So thanks, I really appreciate it.
This field is most suitable for me, of course after gaining complete knowledge and practice.

[jampakdd]

If you are interested in game design, as he mentioned, it can be expensive to go to school but USC has the #1 program and if you are interested let me know we can talk about it!

[shushreverse]

What is it called when there is a person who comes up with the ideas for the game such as what the campaign is gonna be or what the missions are without actually coding or physically making the game?

[masterkeyguy]

For the unique design I'd have to go with Cave Story - the only gripe I have with the game is that it's rather short, but for being made by one guy, it's one hell of an achievement!
Also, these are great book choices :)

[Sunnykr]

Hope you will gain more subscribers soon

[lemetamax]

This is really good stuff!
It's probably why I haven't landed a role in the industry. I'm an indie game developer, and my special skills include game design and programming. And was only tailoring my resume in the broad direction of a game designer instead of a specific aspect of the field like level designer and stuff. Do you think this is the case? Don't get me wrong I've been told to be pretty good as a developer.
I hope you guys one day make a video that tells exactly how to get into a game design role(preferably in an entry level).