How should I prepare for a career in Game Design?

First of all, we need to talk about the difference between game design and game development.

The two are often used interchangeably, but they are two distinct career paths.

Game design often includes the creation of:

new game concepts
mechanics
storylines
Game development tends to refer to the making of games, from the animation through to the engine programming.

It’s a bit like the difference between the driver of a car, and the engineer who builds the car.

Designers and Developers Need Each Other

Without each other, the tasks are useless (what’s the point in being able to drive if no one is making cars), so you need both to make a functional vehicle.

In this example, the driver would be the designer, and the engineer would be the developer.

The driver/designer’s job is pointless if there’s no one to engineer the car or develop the game.

And there is no point in the developer/engineer building something that no one is going to use.

You should always bear in mind that both are equally important in the overall process of making games.

However, whilst the two roles are distinct career paths, they feed into each other continuously.

The designer gives input and direction to the developer, and the developer feeds back with their improvements to the game.

They both need each other to develop the best game possible. And for that reason, it’s good to have a strong understanding of the other career path to the one you choose.

Paths Into The Gaming Industry
So you can see the two differ in subtle ways, but are in fact two distinct paths through the games industry.

What you decide to make the focus of your career will depend on your talents and interests, but you still need a good understanding of what the other career path does in order to be the best you can be.

This guide is about game design though, so let’s get to it.

Talking About Game Design
One of the most important things an aspiring game designer can do is to talk about design.

You probably already talk about bad design a lot, if you’re a fan of video games, but it’s a lot harder to talk about good design because sometimes the design is so good you don’t notice it’s there.

This section is all about learning to talk about design in an insightful and helpful manner, and it will become a vital skill – both for interviews, and for explaining your ideas to your design and development team.

You can be a designer that doesn't know how to write code end to end, but you should learn scripting; especially if you're seeking to break into Triple A games.

Outside of a Game Design program at a specific school such as USC in Los Angeles or DigiPen in Washington, A general computer science degree is always a good start. Outside of this, statistics and probability, creative writing and psychology all factor into your job as a game designer. Statistics will come in handy for data analysis of player segments. Probability is important to chart out and predict the course of systems in your game. Creative writing is important for game dialogue, or any plot required. Psychology is critical for understanding human behavior and making User Interface and Experience decisions based on your understanding of how people will react to your game. Your general computer science degree will give you a strong starting point of understanding of how software works. Beyond this, you will most likely acquire the skills needed to fully round out your skill set on the job.

I'd like to mention that nothing is currently stopping you from making a game right now. You can download Unity personal edition right now for free and start making something. There is a plethora of tutorials on you tube that will show you the ins and outs of the program. Try to make a super simple game; you'll learn very quickly if making games is still truly a passion for you.

If you want to learn game design and programming, you may want to download a common engine like Unity or Unreal 4 and start going through tutorials. There are many examples on YouTube that will guide you to creating simple games -- at least for Unity. I haven't worked with Unreal beyond version 3.

The most important thing is to develop games. The particulars of which engine don't matter so much. So, if Unity or Unreal seems like too much at first, grab the Impact Engine (Javascript), or something like Cocos 2D, or even GameMaker (though that will de-emphasize programming). Since the most important thing is to create games, pick a system that appeals to you and a project in which you are interested -- then start SIMPLE. It's better to complete a basic project than to stall in the middle of a complex one.

Good luck!

So you can see the two differ in subtle ways, but are in fact two distinct paths through the games industry.

What you decide to make the focus of your career will depend on your talents and interests, but you still need a good understanding of what the other career path does in order to be the best you can be.