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In The Beginning...

I am a game designer.


      These are the words that lead down the path of exploration into this new field of study for me. These are the words that Jesse Schell, in his book The Art of Game Design, coaches his readers to repeat in order to encourage them to continue on their study for game design. What is most surprising about Schell's approach at teaching his readers about game design is what he chooses to focus on and the path that the studies follow. Schell states that games, other than video games, are as important as studying video games themselves, and the design of these games is the same as design in other forms of entertainment. One must know why one plays in order to design a game that allows players to do just that, to play.
      What really surprised me about Schell is that he believes that the most important skill that a game designer needs is the ability to listen. As an example, Shell said that a game designer must be able to listen to their game, just as a mechanic can understand what is wrong with a car just by listening to it run. From my previous experience as a software developer, I believe this to be completely true. As one watches a program execute, or watch the target audience interact with a program, every little detail about the interaction is a window through which numerous new possibilities exists. If a user interacts with a box in a way that was not expected, or a value is not updated as it should, there are new decisions about how the program operates that can be made. In order to build something, just as Schell states, one must be able to listen to every aspect of their creation, from the users to the background mechanics that allow the creation to function. Every bit of information is incredibly important to making improvements as nothing is perfect and should always have room for improvements.
      After all of this, I am still not sure about this path of study into game design. But I will never know if this field is right for me unless I give it a try. So...

I am a game designer.


The Art of Game Design by: Jesse Schell
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