Game Design Careers

One of those careers that kids only dream of is in the field of video games. What teenager doesn't spend a few, or quite often a lot more, hours playing video games? Game design is kind of a subcategory of game development. In the design phase the process of creating the content and rules and developing game play, storyline, and characters takes place. Game design careers are especially excellent for individuals with both artistic and technical abilities, and decent writing skills to boot. Quite often someone who becomes a game designer will have started out in the testing department where they were able to see mistakes made by others first hand, helping them to avoid those same errors in the future.

The game designing profession actually has a few subsets within. The actual game designer is the one who creates the game play as well as designing the rules and structure to be followed within the course of the game. The lead designer, as the title indicates, oversees the project; from making large decisions to ensuring that the team communicates effectively. Generally speaking the lead game designer needs to be technically and artistically skilled. This person will also be the one to present the design outside of the team. The system designer is the one who is responsible for balancing game play mechanics to make sure that the game runs smoothly. While the environment designer creates the levels, missions, and overall game environment. Game design careers also encompass a few writers. Usually these people are hired on a part-time basis to write the story and create dialogue between characters as well as any commentary, hints, or journals within the story. They often also write the packaging content for the finished product. Writers for video games tend to have a different set of skills from traditional writers, as they must collaborate with other designers during the process.

Video game designers are typically required to be capable of adapting to multiple roles within the realm of the whole game creation process. At the beginning of a new project they will often need to brainstorm a few concepts along with creating a pitch and defining the target audience for the finished product. They will also likely be the one to oversee the focus groups who are brought in to test the game once it is near complete. Game designers often need to excel at communicating and have great attention to detail. They generally have to be able to delegate responsibilities as needed and make quick decisions about anything from missing elements to last minute changes. As you would expect, at the end of the project the game designer is usually the one who gets the recognition for the finished product; however, they are also the one who will take the brunt of responsibility for meeting deadlines and fixing problems. If you have an eye for detail and a flair for the creative as well as technical ability you are certainly a forerunner for entering into any one of the exciting game design careers available