About that great idea you have .....

I work with a lot of gamers. Literally hundreds of gamers, most of which have dreams of making it big in the industry. Many, if not most, of these young wide eyed gamers want to be game designers. This interests me greatly. I ask them why they want to be a designer, or what their opinions on design elements are, and the majority of them don't have concrete answers. The most common response is "I love games", or "I have great ideas".  This leads me to believe that they don't fully understand the role of a designer, or that they haven't thoroughly researched the position. This is understandable to a degree, the term "designer" has taken on hundreds of definitions and no two design roles are identical.

Further dialogue with these potential designers yields the comment "I can't draw and don't know how to program, but I can totally be a designer!" as if design is the easy job to fall into. Or they have "A great idea", and are convinced that their vision is going to revolutionize gaming. Noble as their intentions are, I believe this approach in mindset is flawed at best. Design, like any other area of study, requires and iterative mindset. We have to learn to crawl before we can run. With this in mind, I urge all of you aspiring designers out there to pull away from making the next revolution in design. Spend some time playing old games and dissecting their design. What works? What doesn't? It's just as important to understand the failures of previous work than the successes. While few things in life are guarantees, I can tell you that your vision of "the next big thing" will fail miserably if you don't understand the basic principals of game design.

Gaming is a huge industry, there are literally millions of people out there playing games. Most of which have some idea of what they like, and what could be better. Yet very few of them take the time to understand exactly what elements failed in a game, or what succeeded. Anyone can say "I like this" but can you fully articulate what you liked, why it was successful, and how you could improve that success further? Then do the same with what you didn't like and discuss those failures? Being and effective game designer requires a keen eye for detail, and empathetic mind that understands the "what, why, and how" of gamers. It also requires a huge amount of collaboration, get the idea of being the sole designer out of your head asap. Even the big famous designers would be liars if they took all the credit for themselves.

Most of the aspiring designers out there, if ever given the shot, will make it into the industry in an entry-level position or with a smaller company. In these positions it's a far more effective use of your time to design strong and effective elements, than to design new ideas with a high risk. There are many lead designers out there who have a proven record of success, let them be the vision, and you be the student. Work with your teams and other designers to learn from their experience. This concept sounds dull to many I'm sure, but the Sistine chapel wasn't Michelangelo's first painting.

I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's ideas or concepts. Keep a journal of these things, a good idea never expires. But let's be realistic about the industry. It's not likely that anyone will get a job as a designer and be told to make their own ideas and concepts off the bat. Stay grounded, start with the foundations, and be the best at what you do. Work your way to the top then bust out that journal you've been keeping over the years. Once you're at the top of the totem pole, you'll have the tools, the content, and the team to make the vision reality.

That idea may make a great game, and is a wonderful dream to keep someone sated. But the idea doesn't make you a great designer. While the experience and the act of working towards that dream can.