The Four Types of Video Game Designers - Game Design Specializations - Extra Credits

[@wegogiant]

I think a mini-series where each of the four types gets their own in-depth episode could be really cool.

[@engineergaming4453]

practical problems engineer gaming

[@sabrinagibby4167]

+++

[@dantemarinucci8765]

yes it would, I would love to see this too

[@perunajunior1315]

Yes

[@tamarasenter4997]

Yes, please

[@joseluispcr]

Or the indie designer. The one who does everthing that the game needs or else

[@stw7120]

What kind of developer are you? Tired. The tired kind.

[@andrewsprojectsinnovations6352]

That's a-me... I am working with a small group of friends on a project but I'm the only one really doing anything at the moment... I guess that just counts as a blend of all 4 designer types.

[@juanferrer5924]

Or the only reliable designer, in which case this also applies

[@albertolaurella9168]

I love how your sentence ends with "or else" as if failure itself threatens the indie designer

[@spenceryascolt8038]

PREACH!

[@arthurcorbier3870]

"do you have two unfinished novels and plan to do three more" I DIDN'T COME HERE TO BE TARGETED THANK YOU

[@_anonymous_creature_]

BRO SAME

[@KarlKristofferJohnsson]

Well, at least I now know exactly which of these types describes me.

[@damiankaleomontero496]

Lol

[@xitsjinxbtwx]

I’ve never seen someone actually named Arthur. That’s wild.

[@gracejonelle6545]

LITERALLY I was like “oh what a fun and interesting v- MAYBE I AM A GAME DESIGNER 😱”

[@DragoniteSpam]

Quick, someone make a Pokémon ROM hack where you have to recruit a balanced team of six different game design disciplines.

[@failuretv814]

So you mean every indie company?

[@DragoniteSpam]

@@failuretv814 Game Dev Tycoon Tycoon

[@OgienChomik]

Obviously there are devs that are two or more types right?

[@MookalH]

hi dragonitespam i love you

[@strutr1250]

This is needed. We all need this.

[@AynenMakino]

I'm missing one, a designer that focusses on how players interact with each other. A social/behavioral designer. One who knows how groups form, how to make positive behavior among players form seemingly naturally via the environment they're in and the rules of that environment.

[@PlehAP]

This is a great point, but based on what I've seen from MMOs, I'm not sure that we've had all that many studios put much thought into this.

[@AynenMakino]

@@PlehAP I've seen some good examples with League of Legends, of all places. They experimented with text in different colors to influence behavior for instance, similarly to how hospitals do.

[@curranh.8328]

For multiplayer ones I guess

[@cabbagemontage6999]

This is a very great point actually

[@TheDSasterX]

Sounds to me like a systems designer

[@spandandasgupta5773]

There's also a mythical 5th kind of designer, and it's the indie designer, this one does everything from writing code to marketing.

[@Gemraw]

There is no such thing as an "indie designer". What you actually mean is an indie developer. Those are not just all sorts of designers but also all sorts of programmers, artists and project manager.

[@graemerock77]

"For gahd's sake my dude, get a publisher!" "NO! I can do it!"

[@tanneredge9774]

I've never been good at math. Do I need to be really good to write code or is it easier than people think?

[@graemerock77]

@@tanneredge9774 Having a good grasp on math certainly helps, but you do not often have to deal with complex equations yourself. Logic, however, is far more useful for handling loops like "if/else" statements, following the thread of how the code is executing, and what is happening where and why.

[@StevenWarzeha]

As a tabletop designer, content and systems are often so intertwined in RPG's that they're inseparable. They form a loop that, when solved, feels like nothing else.

[@Alche_mist]

And when not solved or solved badly, they also feel like nothing else, but the other way around.

[@NathanielJordan85]

That might be more content and experience? Systems in most RPGs feel like a concession to the necessity of some sort of system for orderly play, rather than synergizing with the content or experience. :-/

[@sarahherzog1173]

@@NathanielJordan85 That depends, there can be systems that support the experience and content, several systems in Mousegaurd and Fate come to mind which support playing to your character's weaknesses and gamify non-physical combat such as arguments, etc.

[@sarahherzog1173]

And in Mouseguard, systems support the content setting that you are tiny mice and cannot really measure up to larger creatures, as well as having a "Nature" of a prey animal which you can give in to to run away more easily. These actually support and encourage gameplay to line up with content.

[@kristipearce4819]

My husband wants to make video games and I’m a digital artist, so I’ve been helping him make assets to use in his games. He’d love to quit his day job and do this professionally, but we have no idea where to start!

[@mikeylive98]

im in the same boat, recently told i would lose my job and really want to look for a career in this space

[@WasatchWind]

The awesome thing about the modern game landscape is that you can have teams of a single person make an entire game, so two people is totally doable. I'm not very aware though of the step following the making of the game, but it would be about building a following for it in online spaces, until you can find a way to sell it. Alternatively, there is always the route of joining existing game studios. Again, an advantage of the modern industry is that you could work on a project on the other side of the world - the pandemic has actually made this a necessity in some companies. It is a struggle I'm dealing with too, of how to get into this line of work. The problem is that it is an entertainment field - if you can get someone to give you money, you can make it a job. It offers a great deal of freedom, but it also makes it hard to know where to go. Good luck in your own efforts!

[@UlyReAnimated]

If you're looking for a good place to start. I would suggest looking into unity's many beginner teaching courses that are free for you to play around with and it can be used to made 2D and 3D games.

[@RamonRedCat]

Hey Kristi, would he like to make his own videogames, or join an existing company as a game designer (or other role)? If he doesn't mind making them as a hobby (at first anyway) there's quite some resources online to get started: GDC lectures and gamasutra articles for example. If he'd want to apply for a bigger company, it might be worthwhile investing in some game development courses (after a bit of research and checking whether they're good of course) Hope he finds what he needs :)

[@Kinan.Eldari]

It would vary per game. Sometimes you think of a cool mechanic first and then try to build a game around it. Sometimes you'll want to tell an amazing story (though I would advise against trying to go for a 120+ hour RPG). And sometimes it can be an environment that inspires you. Like what if you wanted to make a game where you board off of sand dunes? The beginning is what captures your attention. Then what's required next is to do the work and try to see it through and not be afraid to abandon ideas along the way if they don't end up working, aka the sunk-cost falacy. There's of course more to it, but that's the beginning of all of it. (source: I have a bachelor's in game design & development)

[@Fungiii11]

I am the Lazy-kind of designer who does nothing of the above but still enjoys your videos while fantasizing about being a game developer XD

[@Sniperbear13]

hear hear.

[@emamalm4934]

I'm sure you're not as lazy as you say you are. I'm sure there's something else holding you back from doing what you want to do. I can't just guess what it is, but if you can figure it out, be it fear of failure, not knowing where to start, not having the time or resources to do it, or something else, you can start to look for solutions. They're not always easy to find, but they're much easier problems to solve than the whole problem of "how do I make a whole game". One last piece of advice that helped me more than anything else. On the first day of my Game Design 101 class, the professor told us this quote from someone, I wish I could remember who, it was "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time". By breaking the monumental task of making a whole game into a whole bunch of little subtasks, it starts to look a lot more possible, and getting started becomes a lot easier. Sorry to write such a long comment out of the blue, I just saw this and it reminded me of me before I started college. The only way to make games is to... make games, so getting over that first hurdle is the most important thing you can do on the journey to becoming a developer. Anyways, I hope my advice helped you in any way, and I hope you find success in anything and everything you want to do.

[@toowiggly]

@@emamalm4934 I appreciate your sincerity

[@dragatus]

Points for honesty.

[@j03T3XAz]

Amen brother

[@stevenarvizu3602]

Hey, just came to say, these videos helped me build a portfolio and get my first internship in game design. As someone who spent the last 7 years as a cook, I genuinely never thought this life was possible, and I just wanted to thank you for the help, and making me understand that if I want to make games, then I need to _make games_

[@ASpaceOstrich]

How'd you build up your portfolio?

[@WasatchWind]

I've missed the episodes on games y'all. I'd be lying if I said I watch a lot of what you put out these days. That aside, I'd love an episode on content design.

[@TheFinagle]

I agree completely, 'How to build a game' type Episodes like this are why I used to watch extra credits all the time. I hope more of this kind of content is coming around more.

[@graemerock77]

@extracredits Timestamp breaks are missing at: 5:44 - Experience Designer 7:00 - Outro

[@Noah_Giddens]

Could we get a Playlist for each type of designer? I would say each should get a video but at this point you already have enough videos to cover the major points for each.

[@TheBergyBirdman]

What noah says. I feel like some designers are more in supply than others, what kinds of challenges each face, and information I'm not thinking of. Great topic EC, please elaborate!

[@dantemarinucci8765]

Yes, this would be super awesome!!

[@Adam-cq2yo]

Yes, this is brilliant!

[@samgillespie9107]

I'd just like to acknowledge the Matthew Mercer cameo at 1:27

[@shlimon7667]

Thought about that too

[@eetukuru787]

Cameo or easter egg?

[@thegamedanalyst2169]

What’s an episode of game design doing on the extra history/mythology channel?

[@UnknownTuber450]

The channel was originally known as Extra Credits and they would talk about games, they then just did history for a while and called itself Extra History. Later they changed the name back and talked about games and history then later adding sci-fi and mythology.

[@bugdracula1662]

@@UnknownTuber450 I think they were doing a funny because they rarely do actual extra credits videos

[@UnknownTuber450]

@@bugdracula1662 oh 😅

[@NathanielJordan85]

This is why I no longer get notified for ALL of their content...

[@RorikH]

Sorry to reply 5 months late but I'm pretty sure they've just already done the low hanging fruit, most of the medium hanging fruit, and some of the high hanging fruit, and all that's left is the hearty root vegetables of History.

[@juega331]

When he said "Do you have two unfinished novels and plans for three more" i downright knew which one is i, because what i love to do the most is to create and tell a story

[@Tigersight0]

6:22 omg I felt this one in my soul. I made a platformer at a game jam, and I was the one who programmed and AGONIZED over the jump, with its exact upward and downward elements, trying to give it a feel that was JUST right for the floaty sort of game character I was working with and their jump animation, and then had to completely flip the control scheme any time the player moved into a 'flying zone' thing, which basically allowed the player to fly all around, while just BARELY slipping downward over time to make sure they knew they were still under the effect of gravity, it was just that their character could actively move freely in that area. Also the camera, with the exact interpolation of its motion having the same sort of floating following feeling, with no sudden jerkiness like you'd get from just aiming straight at the character. But also drifting faintly in the character's direction of movement over time, to allow the player to see more of the area coming ahead of them as long as they kept moving the same way. This all despite the fact I'd normally fall more under content designer...

[@jamesg.4279]

I really enjoyed today’s episode and hope that more like these arise. I wanted to ask about the music department of games. I love composition and was really hoping you could go over the job scenarios of a sound designer in the game industry. Where to start, what it’s like, and anything else on the subject.

[@jamiemccreath3959]

Same here. The classes I've taken in game development have all left the sound part at "it's complicated".

[@RealJohnnyAngel]

as a regular GM, i can say that i'm primarily a systems designer, but i've got a good balance of each of them.

[@hennigloo]

As a DM myself, my guess would be that any good DM/GM is capable of all four, but is most likely best at one or two. In my case, I definitely feel most in my element with content, but I also really enjoy playing around with systems.

[@qubit1788]

@@henniglooas a GM I'm also a mix of content and systems, i'd say something like 60%-40%

[@binkbonkbones3402]

I need you to join my avengers

[@Evoshun]

FINALLY! A real episode about real game design!

[@RealKipper1324]

I'm absolutely a system designer. When I'm working with my team, I LOVE doing game balance and tweaking statistics, but I hate everything else, like level design, experience design, and writing. Balance and tweaking is the only thing that really comes natural to me. I'm glad to be the lead programmer

[@ZarHakkar]

I naturally gravitate to all of these but not fully. I'm terrible at creating things from scratch, but great at refining existing things to be even better. It doesn't matter if it's content, a level, a system, or an experience, I can usually find some way to improve it. It's a shame there's not really obvious openings for that particular skillset though.

[@kennyholmes5196]

Of note, Sound Designers are all a subtype of Experience Designers. In any case, there's also two aspects to every Designer Position that you've outlined: Creators and Verifiers. Creators make the things, Verifiers check them to make sure that they're on the mark. Sometimes, the same person is both a Creator and a Verifier, though not always of the same area when this is the case. And there's plenty of overlap between the various Designer Positions, too!

[@damonnichols5064]

Interesting, I started calling myself a "mechanics designer" for what took my interests and focus. For this video, I guess I would sit somewhere between "systems" and "experience" design.

[@GameDevJosh]

same

[@plyrni3]

Yup same, i like to think about how to implement the mechanics in a way that the game (And by so, the player) will profit the most Plus, I love to polish my games and make everything satisfying and smoooooooth

[@self-absorbed5269]

There is one more , the team designer. The person who sees the flaws and potential in others. The one who keeps the others focused on tasks , but also motivated as well. Somebody who keeps their eye on the ball and let's the others do what they do best.

[@Brunoenribeiro]

This is gold. It's somewhat common to hear about level, system and content designers, but not with this simplicity. And experience designers... is spot on!

[@nps86]

"Not gonna yuck your yum" *Everyone liked that*

[@allenw794]

Sound Design, please do a focus on non-music based sound design. More on the 'experience designer' in general, but for a narrower topic non-music sound. With that out of the way, thank you for laying things out this helped me see where my own focuses, and weaknesses are.

[@jesusmcastillo8306]

I'd love a more thorough look at each kind of game designer, and the way they interact with each other, maybe. Especially the experience designer.

[@jackdev2197]

ah a fellow system gremlin

[@dantemarinucci8765]

I was thinking "I'm more into designing the controls and feel of video games... none of these feel right" until the end! I'm an experience designer!!!!!

[@JanTuts]

D-pad The Rumble Joystick

[@player1_fanatic]

Obviously "The Coder". The one guy who makes game engine and tools for those other fancy designers to make their games. As well as any other problem solving that requires coding. Game AI, pathfinding algorithms, implementing whatever system designer had made up, rapid prototyping the game, adding support for new graphics technology and game physics, implementing data model for the save system, etc...

[@ViolosD2I]

That makes you a developer, not a designer. Aka the person whose time is the most precious resource. :D

[@The_Cyber_System]

I'm most definitely a content designer, but I've also been told that I'm extremely skilled as a level designer and an experience designer. I enjoy all three equally, but I find content design easiest - I just let my imagination do its thing and then I cut the fluff.

[@DanatronOne]

*glances at folders full of excel spreadsheets* I feel called out.

[@drawinful]

Sorry if repost, just summarizing here: 1. Content designer (lore and story) 2. Level designer (designs environ/challenges) 3. Systems designer (balances capabilities in games) 4. Experience designer (fine tuning visual, haptic, sonic effects for “feel so satisfying” moments)

[@arewenot]

nobody's gonna talk about UI Designers? i think it's pretty underrated

[@rogerg0120]

Me, a game designer whose primary area is Systems design and after hearing the detailed way to optimize a bard for fun "is..........that uncommon to do? Do most players not do that".

[@AlexWalkerSmith]

My approach is content and systems designing. But, I never get incredibly deep. I'm like a concept creator. I have ideas for basic character and story arcs, and gameplay mechanics and elements. I wish I could give my concepts to a team who can actually flesh them out. Ideally I would like to be involved in decision-making throughout development, but I'd take what I can get. But alas, I work as a game audio designer and music composer, so I get a pat on the head when I share my ideas. 😅

[@drewrandall8161]

I think I'd like a series where there's an entire episode devoted to each one of the four types of game designers, maybe even bonus episodes about interdepartmental dialogue.

[@gbleebin]

Then you have, like... the two dudes in Iron Gate or Team Meat over there like "Ooooohhh....... we were supposed to pick ONE of these?"

[@idleplayer03]

"Give Zoe treats and win instantly." Can be found in 1 out of 200 Extra Credits card packs. Each pack sold separately.

[@Sapphireeyes104]

I really like experience and level design. Environmental story telling is so cool, and things like the PS4s context sensitive controller light make me all giddy and excited ^^;

[@hakimitus]

Definitely a content designer. But also getting into level design! I'm absolutely in love with Unity's terrain editor!

[@scottgluck2953]

I would love more in depth videos on each of these archetypes. More specifically, I would love to see a focus on what skills you can work on and how you can start creating projects that highlight your skills to begin building a portfolio of projects to use to help get jobs.

[@samuelstuart3856]

I feel like I am definitely the content and level designer since I do have quite a few papers and maps for my game

[@AleT118]

Videos like these are super fun to listen to, aiming for the games industry myself.

[@thegrimmarcher202]

Good luck

[@TemplarHedgehog]

After almost three years of game design studies, I’d say my favourite thing is designing games that use mechanics and systems to tell stories or convey abstract ideas and themes. That feels like a combo of a lot of the mentioned roles.

[@GaianEntertainment]

That's my preference as well. With mechanics-originating content, the game can be designed to be neither chaotically random nor overly predictable. This would hopefully keep the game interesting even for the team that works on it.

[@antonim8714]

1. Content Designer 2. Level Designer 3. Systems Designer 4. Experience Designer

[@Tes2T]

Nice to see the channel doing content as it used to..... it's always nice to get more actual game development videos and hopefully a lot more in depth ones in the future.

[@TNothingFree]

First of all - I really like your content and this kind of "Abstracted" content makes understanding of game design concepts much easier. It's like "Game design for dummies", like me! Content, Level, System and Experience designers. I found that I'm more of a System designer and an Experience designer. That's why I began programming in the first place and never could get into creating content and level - it simply bores me. But tuning mechanics and creating systems is what makes a real thrill for me :D

[@JoriamRamos]

I love the division you folks proposed here, but I also thought it was very 101. Would loooove to see longer explorations on each of those archetypes :) Thanks for the vid, your work is everinspiring

[@GameDesignWithChris]

There are so many specializations in the industry! Even going from one studio to another you would be surprised about the different types of game designer you can find.

[@pubertdefrog]

What about art directors, they are the backbone of the games visuals. For example how are the level designers going to design a level if they don't know what the level theme is, and how are the other designers going to make the lore/puzzles/interactions if they don't even know what the characters look like, or what their traits are ( maybe there is a squid character that swims around to talk to NPC's, but then how will they know how the creature swims or it's limits). TL;DR art Designers are very important to the development of the game

[@Luuurble]

not sure that this would fit in the realm of this channel, but could you do talk a bit about character design?

[@olbaze]

While I am no designer, my approach to playing games is the systems designer approach. I have spreadsheets for ROI on lootboxes, I break down crafting tasks into the base materials so I can track my progress and best choose which material to focus on. I've done calculations to optimize gear and inventory loadouts for specific PvP encounters in Diablo 2. I have written 10+ page documents about debuffs and damage calculations for optimizing in an MMORPG.

[@nikkifaedahlen]

I really loved this episode, a strong thank you to the whole team! 💛 At some point, I'd love to hear more about composing for games, or even the practical mechanics of how you could do that along side other aspects of the design process. I'm interested in many different aspects of the design process, but my skillset is weighted really heavily towards music/audio, and finding ways to engage with that part of the industry always seems esoteric and difficult to navigate.

[@i8dacookies890]

The next step would be making videos on more specific advice for each type. I'd really like that.

[@koltonrasmussen7996]

I've needed this so desperately. I am definitely a content designer, and I definitely care about the experience.

[@majorjohnson8001]

My interest is definitely in systems design. And I'd love to see some more in-depth videos on each of these.

[@GaianEntertainment]

Same. Level design is the only one I don't care about. I'd rather build a set of integrated systems that build the game environment for me. Granted, I prefer to have "level" only refer to character skills and not locations/maps.

[@mene1in]

This was helpful. I'm a solo developer with a few games under my belt. I spent 2+ years planning and building a game that could've caught on but flopped, in part because I don't have enough balanced talent between design types. I'm overwhelmingly a content designer, so my game has lore, background lore, hidden lore, corporate hierarchies, and side characters with their own backstories and personality types. The game is 2 chapters out of 3 done and out there. However, the whole thing so far takes 20-40 minutes to complete, and I've recently realized I didn't exactly put much in the whole "gameplay" side of it... I now know I need to level up my systems design.

[@Seltyk]

As you went through the descriptions of designers, I thought back on the game I've been slowly planning for a couple months. Each time I felt "that's fun, and I wanna do some of that, but it isn't something I could sit down and dedicate myself to". Then you got to experience designers… and boy do I sit there accurately. I'm highly attentive to the way DUSK's Riveter feels like launching death at enemies, and the way Titanfall 2's movement feels so flow-y and rewarding to use, and how pre-2019 Call of Duty games didn't sell the feeling of running/sprinting. Sure I want to design cool levels, and I've come up with interesting weapons, and I've written my characters some backstory, but what I want out of a game is to be immersed in the bombastic chaos. I want that revolver to really punch, I want players to move swiftly without being untouchable, I want to build combos like those people have found in DOOM Eternal. That's me.

[@ianwilliams6331]

Personally I would love a deeper dive into how system designers balance everything in large scale games like an MMORPG. More specifically, I am kind of interested in how you craft a system so that player gain more powerful gear at a rate that feels good, but doesnt suffer from terrible power creep where constant upgrading is required to progress period.

[@sahar1213]

that 'power creep' is less balancing and more about the psychology aspect, in that case you'd want to make upgrades not the only source of dopamine.

[@jeffreyseamons5514]

I'm definentaly a systems designer. When MTG announched the set boosters, I spent a whole houre making a spreadsheet to find the rare/price ratio of both draft and set boosters, as well as the rare/common ratio.

[@brockmckelvey7327]

I'd love more episodes about the different types of designers

[@laurensdesmet70]

I mean... If you guys are suggesting making separate videos on the more specific order/workload of each of these, I'd be more than happy to watch those.

[@juliahenriques210]

Listen to that, kids. This is solid advice. One thing you don't want to happen (if you're not desperate for the money) is to jump into the industry in your 20s taking any job available only to find that by your 40s you're so busy with job, family, and life in general that you just can't move to those positions you've always wanted to be in, even if you have the skills. It's usually too risky financialy, or you'd have to sacrifice your time with your kids & spouse, or your NDAs just require you not to teach some things to whoever will take on that dream project with you. Trust me, I know. It happened to... err... a friend of mine. ... ... Yep. TLDR: Go indie while you're young and do exactly what you like to do. Don't get too attached to anything, just keep pumping well rounded projects out. This will give you the resume to apply for the right positions when the time comes.

[@Thing5O0]

Level Designer: was middle school me in halo 3 forge every day after school.

[@olafmeiner4496]

I really needed this episode two... make that three years ago! Many studios also employ hybrid designers, like the prototyping game designer who writes their prototypes themselves, or the UX designer who spends most of their time designing the UI, menus and screen flows, and sometimes implements them too.

[@CoralineDark]

I’m not entirely sure where I fit here, maybe content? Im a game design student myself and in all of the games I’ve worked on, I tend to focus in heavily on the art and visuals, but also the UI/UX, some level design as well, and scattering of narrative here and there (not sprawling backgrounds yet but smaller ones to set the story). However something not touched on here is I also always fall into team leadership and management roles, kinda like a film producer I guess? My design teams sometimes call me the creative director which makes me happy, but perhaps production, organization, and management like that falls outside of the actual design roles?

[@Nocsha217]

I LOVE designing and balancing Systems, thank you for teaching me a way to promote myself stronger in future interviews!

[@ViolosD2I]

Yes, especially because we are clearly the kings of... *oof*

[@alecyaw8103]

OH MY GOD THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED

[@Greennoob2]

I'd say my personal interest goes level design, feel, balance, lore. in decreasing order of interest.

[@Biouke]

Haha I'm the total opposite :D

[@darkmaple404]

I'd like more in-depth episodes on each type of game designer, personally I feel that the system designer resonates with me.

[@buddyb8284]

More episodes like these please. I legitimately want to become a designer, and information like this can help budding designers like me and many others.

[@truetimewatcher]

I'd say that there are in-between types, ones where they're stronger in the overlap of multiple disciplines than in the core types themselves. For example, I'd say I'm a "mechanics designer" - somewhere in-between systems and experience: I try to create the small bits of the game that allow content and level designers to make a world, yet my work is too small-scale to be fully focused on the overarching systems or feel of a game, merely contributing to them with each mechanic I add.

[@TheCreepypro]

nice I always knew there was more than one type of game designer but not this many with such varied tool sets it truly was fun to learn about them

[@CM-jf1vx]

Thanks so much for giving more concrete descriptions for "game designer" types.

[@nadrojiskool]

Picked up programming/design as a hobby and after on-and-off experience over the years kind of realized what really gets me the most excited in development is systems design. Started calling myself a systems designer because I thought it seemed accurate, happy to see that the term, used here, may be somewhat universal or descriptive. First project I did was in C++ where I built a basic console application focused on a proprietary and unique, 'Fair Scoring,' system/design for seeded tournament brackets (March Madness). Was hoping to have some time to get back to that now that I'm much familiar with building a GUI and web hosting. Thanks guys, liked the video. #ImWithGeoff

[@moriahmason1744]

Yes to in-depth episodes, please! I've never felt so simultaneously SEEN and CALLED OUT. 🤣

[@RG-xl7ql]

I’m off to college in August for Game design and this gave me a lot of perspective, so thanks! I’m definitely learning towards content designer

[@SouthSnake]

The "experience designer" is also the guarantor of the engagement through a good quality of learning and exposure of the mechanics.

[@Mentosman321]

I guess I'm all 4 with my card game, Weapons Inc. (Free on tabletop simulator!): -Made the backround fantasy world based off of my own dnd campaign (a semi-nonsensicle but magical fantasy world of adventurers) -Created the mechanics of the game to fit with the theme (Being a Weapon store owner building up the surroundings to attract adventurers while competing against another weapon store right next door) -Tuning the balancing through various mathmetical values (Gotta love that Excel!) -And playtesting the game to change what feels balanced, fun, and comprehensible (where I divert from the original math to make a better expierence, and simplify mechanics to allow for better cohesion in understanding)

[@Gnomelord0]

An episode where you go over the basics of a design team would be really great honestly.

[@adambombdiggidy]

Definitely feel like this would've been great to know when I was in college. Great episode y'all!

[@pcompani715]

Thank you so much for this video! I'm studying video game conseption in college right now, wanting to be a designer, but didn't know how and where I'd fit, but now, I know that my skills and interests would be in good use! In this case, systemxs designer. Something I was wondering, whose job is it to travel between the departements making sure everyone is on the same page? Caus another skill I have is being a jack of all trades, master of none, and that emables me to hold a conversation with anyone and understand a wide variety of technical and specific knowledge, so that would make it perfect for communications!

[@huemanish9]

this was SO helpful! ... i started my own game company, and wondered where i fit best all this time... im SUCH a System Designer :)

[@Rehteal]

So it's sounding like I'm majoring in Content Design and minoring in system design, speaking metaphorically in terms of any type of degree. I was fortunate enough to be brought onto a major Darkest Dungeon mod project as the lead writer, and gameplay designer/ stat balancer, and for once it feels like I'm doing something in my life that feels inherently natural.

[@Diogo._.Eusebio]

I've been watching Extra credits for years now exactly because of game design. If you guys wanna help me out with my master thesis I challenge you to explain how we represent and create societies in video games (also what do we miss when comparing social behavior from games to real-life; how societies evolve; etc, etc). ;) Great video, I believe I'm a level designer, but I like to keep an open mind and attitude.

[@surviverta842]

I am just really glad that the game design roots are resurfacing again.

[@jamiemccreath3959]

Important to note these areas benefit from collaborating and helping each other. When content, levels, systems, and experience are designed thoughtfully, the game becomes more than the sum of its parts.

[@binkbonkbones3402]

I need to assemble the game design avengers. I'm a content designer, I just need the rest

[@beavernation57]

I’d say I’m the content designer, but that’s only out of the 4 he presented. Because I’m the best at anything that doesn’t handle graphics, because I need a team or tutorial to do graphical stuff. And I’ve never been on a team before.

[@setcheck67]

As someone who spent the last 2 nights staring at my ceiling wondering if barbarians in my game might need a little more damage reduction to combat against the evasive enemies in a particular area, but then realizing the barbarians are able to stun-lock enemies in a different area and they might be able to use a companion to out DPS the enemies in the evasive area... I can say being in systems design is a great way to lose hair. Even if the math is perfectly linear, player skill never is and you end up with weird effects where some players complain it's too hard while others complain it's too easy and the only difference between the 2 is how good they are at utilizing the mechanics in place. Then there is weird interactions where a specific ability is more effective, but the player doesn't use it because they like using their old abilities.

[@TheGrifhinx]

Uhm here's a question I'm surprised to see that it's somehow not yet raised: Can these four designer types serve as like the four main sections/chapters of a game design document?

[@nikosgiginth]

More of this!!! It is quite interesting to see a more detailed info about the spec and focus anyone can opt in

[@robertdshone6857]

Would love an episode that dives a little deeper into the role of a content designer/video game writer!

[@yurikovRUKR762]

I once thought about making a game but I quickly gave up since I didn't know how to code other than animating using the Roblox Engine, I did however got accepted by a small RPG dev as an animator after I've submitted a decent NPC animation. I actually appreciate the video which inspires me to move forward

[@westingtyler1]

I KNEW IT. There was a game dev lady on twitter who prides herself on being open to the community and sharing concepts with new game devs on twitter. She said she was a game designer, and i asked her what that meant for her, and her response was basically, "google that basic shit." I clarified by saying "no, what specifically do YOU do as a game designer?" and she basically said "I don't know how to answer that simple basic question that's too basic for me to bother answering. just google it." so I felt dumb because I HAD googled it, and the definition, as shown in this video, can cover a LOT of things. the interaction left a sour taste in my mouth for game designers. it made me not want to ask questions, which I THOUGHT was the whole point of community interaction on twitter. but this vid proves that "game designer" covers a lot of DIFFERENT types of designing. it sucks she was mean because the question was "too basic." it would have taken her less time to just say "i design levels/balance the stats" or whatever, than it would have taken her to scold me for being lazy. anyway, the moral is, don't be a douche to noobs, especially when it would take LESS time to answer the question than to scold them for not googling it. when someone asks you a question about yourself you think they COULD google, assume they already have and are instead asking about the parts that CAN'T be googled, like about your passions and perspective on the process.

[@YoshisaurUnderscore]

I'd be down for more specific episodes for all of these! The systems designer caught my interest especially; I really like math and statistics.

[@andreypopov3400]

I personally usually differentiate gamedesigners into three different groups: mechanic, narrative and math designers. Mechanic designers figure out game mechanics: player abilities, enemies abilities and ect. Narrative designers make a coherent world to make mechanics work. And math designer is the one who plays and tinkers game balance to be just right (and gather statistics and adjust monetization system if necessary).

[@Funsoms]

After spending 3 weeks perfecting a swing mechanic and polishing the feel of the physics, i feel complimented c:

[@mrdeadbird1479]

As an independent solo developer for me it's one day of one then two days of the other one, depending on the need, I found really useful to understand how this skills are divided.