Post by redonihunter in How important are Game Designers really?

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What happens on Itch is not typically the game industry.

Roles like "game designer" are implicit or outside the scope of a small game. You do not need that kind of analysis and prediction for small indie games. Or rather it is unaffordable.

I mean, just look at publishing on Itch. Actual professional games typically have a publisher. Itch does not even have the capacity for that abstraction layer. It is very rare to see a publisher here. It is all self publishing by the developers.

A lot of dedicated roles are non existant for games on Itch. Even for teams. There is just more roles than persons.

If you do not have a team, seeking one will probably make you look like the "ideas guy".

So for indie games, you likely will have to contribute more than a gdd. A gdd is basically a plan what to make and why.

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Skrovitch3 days ago

Yes, I understand that GDD isn't something that will last continuously. However, what got me thinking was the starting point, because I keep wondering, how does someone begin this kind of career? Especially since their only knowledge would be in Game Design. And I see Itch not only as an indie platform but also as a starting point, so I thought about jams and such... even knowing that this type of role would be unfeasible for jams.

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Ratsnake Games3 days ago(+1)

In terms of game jams, teams still tend to be on the small side so obviously roles will get "compacted" and team members will wear multiple hats. You also really do not need GDDs for the conplexity of the average jam game.

As someone who is a programmer by daylight, I want to do my own game design when I do gamedev so I am flat-out not looking for a game designer. For me, that's the "juicy" part.

So having some other skills (e.g. also being able to do art) are gonna increase your odds of being able to find a team where you get the "game designer hat" compared to if you only can do game design.

Best case would be if you were able to do solo projects, of course - that way, nobody can tell you what to do! So learning to program, at least in some sort of low-code environment, might be worthwhile. Or maybe you could try your hand at a board game, with zero programming required.

Will any of that stuff help you to break into the industry? Iunno. I'm not in the industry and have no desire to be.

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redonihunter3 days ago(+1)

how does someone begin this kind of career

From existing jobs by specializing in game design. Or by having a degree in it.

You did mention you started studying it. Is that a translation issue or something? I was under the impression that you are a student. A formal student in an institution where they give courses and you will end up having a degree.

Did you per chance mean self learning, by "studying"?

If so, entering chances might be better than in other fields, but try imagining a company hiring a self taught engineer. That's not gonna happen. You need a degree or work experience. And having side gigs on a self publishing site like Itch is not the work experience I am talking about. Professionals are rare here. Oh, there are some one-person-developers and even some commercially successful games. But game studios are rather rare.

And even if you find a small game studio here, chances are, they are so small, that a dedicated game designer is not what they seek. You would need to have other skills. A dedicated role of game designer maybe starts at studios with 10+ people. In other words, you need people to coordinate, to have the role of a coordinator ;-)

Due to the nature of that role, I am not sure, if that is done by freelancers, the way art can be commissioned. It's basically the thing that is the core of the game. Can't really outsource that. But other people will know more about this than me.

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Skrovitch1 day ago

Okay, let's break it down: I don't know if I can consider it a course as "self-learning," but it doesn't give me any diploma, certificate, or anything like that. I study at a "school" called Orango, but again, it's nothing like a bachelor's degree, for example. My country doesn't have many incentives in the game development field, and it also doesn't have much tradition in the area, although it already has some world-renowned indie developers. Because of this, the only university that actually offers this area of study is more than 700km away from me, and I can't attend right now, I intend to, but I can't now.

And I understood what you meant. My fear is always the beginning, how it starts, and even though I haven't actually started a degree in the field yet, I wanted to try to take my first steps, try to build a portfolio, etc., etc. And the fear of what the beginning is like led to the suggestion for the post. Thank you for your comment, it was very enlightening.

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redonihunter1 day ago

If that field is "new", any local game studio will probably be more willing to hire people with no formal degree.

From what I've read, that Orango is more like a beginner's introduction course. Like maybe one week or three worth of study of a topic. And it's aimed more at giving people opportunity to try out if they would like a thing or not. (But maybe I've read about the wrong thing.)

This should give you enough knowledge to have structure in creating your own games on Itch and for jams that should be more than enough to have fun in creating a game from beginning to end.

But you seem to ask and aim for game designer. That's a specialist occupation in big teams.

If you wonder how those specialists started, I suggest you pick a few games, favorably created in your country, and look at the credits at places like https://www.mobygames.com/ Do they have a game designer that only did game design? And how does their previous credit history look like. If they are famous, maybe they have a public listing of their previous work or education.

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