What does a Game Designer Do?. I don’t know what your favorite game…
By: Shane Shown
Tags: Game Development, Jobs, Games, Interview, Job Hunting

I don’t know what your favorite game is, but growing up, I was always jazzed about Saturday mornings and getting lost in playing Final Fantasy VII. Something about that game got me addicted to investing hours turning through battles, destroying cases of Dr.Pepper, and plowing through bags of hot Cheetos. Not only was I addicted to playing the games, but I also developed a passion for art because of this game. I would draw the characters from elementary to high school. Part of this is thanks to Hironobu Sakaguchi for helping design one of the best games ever! Like many inspired children, there are a ton of folks that wish to create magic like the Final Fantasy Series, Call of Duty, Fable, World of Warcraft, and other iconic games. But, the real question is, “How do I become a game designer in 2021?”

Since Hironobu helped create FFVII in 1999, there have been a lot of upgrades in the gaming industry. The gameplay is ten times more complex, and the art is equally as beautiful. I am beyond excited to see what Unreal Engine 5 brings to the world as the release of the PS5 and new XBOX go into production. This is allowing for more robust online games that require a lot more detail, attention, and creative freedom. The loot systems for Monster Hunter and Diablo are a niche role at a massive scale compared to a complete end-to-end game designer at an indie game. All these changes and innovations have created a demand for understanding what flavors of Game Designers exist in the world and how to identify them. And that’s exactly what I’ll be focusing on in this article.

What Is A Game Designer?

Alrighty, first things first. For those readers who’re just realizing their passion for video games and want to make a career out of it — let’s discuss what the definition of a game designer is?

A game designer is an entity that’s in charge of storylines and game plots. They look over other elements such as game levels, environments, character interactions, etc. as well. Basically, game designers are the driving force behind game production because they’re overseeing and collaborating with other game specialists like artists and developers.

Although, you should note that the job description may vary depending on the studio and situation. For instance, it’s not uncommon for game designers to focus on and specialize in a specific game element. In fact, game designers can choose to work as part of a team for a game development company, or they can publish their own titles.

Here’s what Troy Dunniway (an award-winning Game Designer who’s worked with biggies like EA, Disney, and Insomniac) has to say about game designing entails

“Understanding how to develop game systems, the theory of what makes something fun, plus how all these systems work together are the most fundamental requirements for being a game designer.”

Based on job requirements, a game designer can be responsible for creating its foundation, mastering overall game execution, and enhancing user experience. It’s not a precise definition, sure, but since when has that mattered in video gaming?

What Game Design Involves?

Just because you can’t clearly define something doesn’t mean you can’t explain it. I mean, if that was the case, then we’d have no computer scientists or coders. And, just like Sora doesn’t give up on going against multiple incarnations of the evil Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts, I will not surrender until I’ve broken down what game design entails. Here’s hoping the article doesn’t rival the length of Sora’s gameplay journey.

Humor aside, before you get too frazzled by the uncertainty surrounding the definition of game design — have a look at what it includes within the realm of the video gaming industry.

Game designing has evolved over the years, and that’s why it’s best to picture it as a three-dimensional by-product of game development. Essentially, game design has several layers, and there are two major factions within the industry:

The Creative Faction The Technical Faction

I know that sounds like two groups right out of Divergent’s dystopian universe — but bear with me.

The Creative Side

As the name suggests, the creative faction deals more with art and narration. Generally, this side can be divided into three main categories:

Level/Environment Designer

You can think of level designers as gameplay whizz kids, and as the title suggests — they design certain portions (or levels) of a game. Based on the game’s overall specifics — level designers focus on fleshing out details like objects, events, actions, and the environment. They can also be involved in character design and behavior.

Max Herngern, who works as a level designer at Mojang (the creators behind Minecraft), describes his role as a type of a “…hybrid of a level designer and a level artist.” His work requires him to manage everything from early conceptualization to optimizing a level’s performance pre-release. In his own words, the only thing he doesn’t handle in the entire process is programming and scripting.

However, once again, level designer requirements can change based on the studio. On the whole, it’s a good idea for a level designer to possess some knowledge of programming and scripting languages.

Narrative Designer

Legend has it that Stephen Dinehart was the man to put the spotlight on narrative design back in 2006. As to what game narration entails, think about it like this — any aspect that is meant to draw a gameplayer deeper into the story is likely a part of the narrative. So, for example, stuff like atmosphere, dialogue, etc.

A narrative designer is so much more than just a storyteller, they’re in charge of world-building à la Tolkien and G.R.R.Martin. A narrative designer will work with their team to create characters, events, mechanics, and rules. Their job is to champion the cause of the story, throughout the game.

For example, look at how Final Fantasy VII took its storytelling to a whole different level. They went from fighting the bad guys spoiling for world domination to a story that touched upon themes of humanity and identity. And, they also threw in psychological and environmental issues for good measure. The end result was a game that evoked anger, sadness, and a myriad of other feelings in players. In short, it was fantastic.

You can become a part of the narrative design world by getting started with creative writing. Some universities, like Columbia, even offer a brilliant creative writing undergrad degree. But, that’s not the only option out there, there are a bunch of institutions that offer top-notch creative writing programs.

Additionally, sites like Coursera offer great learning opportunities as well. For instance, Story and Narrative Development for Video Games on Coursera is taught by Dariush Derakshani (who’s nothing short of a magician when it comes to visual effects). After you’ve completed your academic quest, it’s all about building your portfolio.

Mission Designer

A mission designer’s job is to focus on what a player is going to do during a specific mission, and that involves overlooking things like combat, gameplay beats, objectives, etc. The job revolves around a player’s objective, and what’s required to make it interesting.

Sometimes, the job descriptions of a level designer and mission designer may overlap, but with massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) — a mission designer’s work is to create gameplay based in an existing space. And, of course, a mission designer also needs to make sure that a particular mission always fits within a game’s story and enhances the overall purpose.

Other responsibilities include working with the design team to tweak the mission according to the feedback and consumer playtest groups. There’s also keeping tabs on documentation to make sure design, engineering, and art are all aware of game progress, etc.

Studios will generally look for a candidate who has the relevant qualifications, and game design experience. Some job descriptions also require familiarity with scripting languages and open-world mission design experience.

The Technical Side

Let me start this section by addressing the elephant in the room. If you haven’t noticed it already (chance would be a fine thing), the definitions of jobs in game designing are somewhat ambiguous and overlapping.

But, that mostly has to do with the fact that job descriptions can vary based on studio culture, game genre, the platform, and even the level of specialization involved. Heck, even the category of a game will have a direct bearing on how the job description plays out. I mean a designer involved in an MMO project will face something else entirely, compared to a designer working on Candy Crush (not that I have anything against the game…mostly). Nonetheless, the categories highlighted in this article stand up against broad-based classifications.

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s focus on the categories you’re bound to run into on the technical side of game design. Here goes.

Systems Designer — Mobile, Console, PC

Game systems (mechanics) includes 3 major elements: content, rules, and parameters.

Content comprises pretty much everything in the game, such as talents, characters, monsters, spells, and more. Each content category has certain parameters that define it — for example, the traits of a particular character.

The values that your game systems utilize to create or simulate the game are all part of the parameters. So stuff like hits, or a character’s health is all included in this category.

Finally, the rules of a game (backed up by formulas and functions) decide how the actions or events of a game work. Rules determine how much damage a hit can result in, or what new character stats are to be included when the player progresses through levels.

I know you’re wondering why any of this is important? Well, a system designer job entails overseeing all these details. Additionally, systems designers will spend quite a bit of their time organizing all these details in excel sheets to keep track of all these details.

Multiplayer Designer

Multiplayer Designers (as the name suggests) tend to work on (custom) competitive or co-op game design and modes. These can include awesome stuff like horde modes, guilds, MMO groups, among others. And, multiplayer designers can also double as level designers where the situation calls for (depending on the studio, or style of game).

These guys wrestle with details like how many players can play in a single match, or what rewards players can earn from achievements, and so on.

Loot Systems Designer

In gaming, a loot system determines how the looted items are distributed among the players after they’ve…well, looted them. Sounds pretty cool, right? Loot systems gained popularity thanks to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (or MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft.

A loot systems designer’s job is to figure out a distribution system that provides a fair process of distribution that keeps all the players happy. That’s easier said than done because more often than not, there are several players focused on one prized piece of loot.

There are numerous ways in which a loot systems designer can base the distribution of loot starting from the first come first served method to an equal chance based system.

Progression Systems Designer

A lot of games are created as per a progression gameplay model because it allows them to build an engaging storyline centered around the action of the game. The goal is always to capture the attention of the player and keep it for as long as possible. This requires games to be fun and immersive. Progression gameplay allows designers to use the development of a game to weave a complex story around it.

Take Ubisoft’s latest Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, for instance. One of the reasons why Valhalla is making such waves is that it promises players a richer storyline and plenty of interactions with non-player characters to keep the players glued to their screens to find out more about the game.

A progression systems designer is the guy (or gal) that helps set an action plan in motion that players will need to complete to move forward in the game. Setting up the action plan will include figuring out checkpoints like destroying an enemy’s base, rescuing the princess, defeating the level boss, etc.

Combat Designer

A combat designer’s world is all about weapons, ammo, enemies, and combat skills. Their concern is how the fighting in the countless combat scenarios in the game will play out. Typically, a combat designer opening is often found at large studios with the game’s main interplay focused on fighting.

Although, you should note that combat designers working on competitive fighting games like Tekken or Mortal Kombat have a bit of a unique function. Such games require combat designers to figure out how many frames are needed for an attack animation to pan out, and how they can tweak character elements to make them well-balanced all around.

Sound Designer

The perfect gaming experience is more than just kickass graphics — it also includes the perfect score or soundtrack. Sound can help take an optical adventure to the next level. If you don’t believe me, just ask how many people hear the JAWS theme playing in their heads in the open ocean.

When it comes to great sound design, many elements make up the whole package. There’s music (of course), sound effects, spoken dialogue, and various other bits of audio elements that tie the game design into a thematically outstanding encounter.

As a sound designer, you’re an integral part of the audio department, and in charge of all the sound effects that need to be part of the game. From the sound of bullets firing to footsteps and more — it’s your job to either choose effects from the sound library or stretch the creative boundaries by creating and modifying your own sound effects.

To Sum Everything Up…

I’m sure we’ve all given joining the gaming industry a go while playing a particularly fascinating game. The creative process that results in brilliant games and even more captivating worlds tends to act like a lodestone.

While it’s not impossible to break through into the industry, it does require the proper qualifications and a prolific portfolio. I mean, an impressive resume never hurts anyone. For instance, becoming a game systems designer requires knowing your way around maths (trig., calculus, linear algebra, etc.) and programming (C#, C++, Javascript, Unity, and the like).

There’s no clear cut formula that’ll guarantee success as a systems designer, but thankfully, many universities and colleges across the country offer some great video game-related degree programs that you can opt for.

As the gaming industry keeps reaching new heights in popularity, the competition within the industry has grown fierce as well. But, the good news is that new job openings are also a part of the deal. Not to mention, there’s also an abundance in game development and game design programs.

Here’s to hoping this article has removed some of the lingering queries you’ve had so far concerning jobs in the game design industry and all the relevant categories. All you need to do now is decide which job description suits you best!