Game Designer

Game Designers define the overall game experience. They set the rules, work out the mechanics, and create the right balance of challenge and reward for players.

In this role, you hold a strong vision for the kind of game you’re making. You decide on what needs to be included - the characters, objects, situations - and how they all fit together.

In smaller studios that could mean covering a lot of the details yourself, designing assets and writing code. On bigger projects, you’ll have a team of specialists to coordinate. In either case, good knowledge of both art and programming will help you bring it all together.

Design

You’ll love this role if you’re into:

Coding
Drawing
Being Organised
Writing
Telling Stories
Maths
Designing things

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YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY

Some, but not all, people working as a Games Designer have a degree in Game Design. Above all, you should be someone that loves designing things, creative problem-solving and collaborating with others.

As a professional, you’ll be bringing to life concept art by using a range of tools that may include Blender, Maya and ZBrush, as well as game design programs (engines) like Unity and Unreal. We recommend using our tool picker to help you choose the right ones for your current level and purpose.

Working in the games industry is highly competitive and you’ll need to make sure your portfolio (a collection of your best work) stands out to employers and course leaders.

As a Games Designer, your work should showcase games you’ve designed, showcasing your development process from concept to prototypes and finished work. You should show a range of technical skills and an understanding of fundamental game-design principles. For more general ideas on developing your portfolio, see our top tips page.

Whatever role you are working in, it is essential that you understand the game making process. You can head to our build a game section for first steps; join a regular game jam to build up your skills & network; or start modding others games to gain experience.