Video Game Designers
Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.
Also Known As:
Design Director
Designer
Environmental Artist
Game Design Consultant
Game Designer
Gamemaster
Level Designer
World Designer
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
Connecticut's
2034 Projected Employment
1,390
11% Change From 2024
United States
2034 Projected Employment
137,900
7% Change From 2024
Explore Video Game Designers video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Create gameplay prototypes for presentation to creative and technical staff and management.
- Keep abreast of game design technology and techniques, industry trends, or audience interests, reactions, and needs by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.
- Create gameplay test plans for internal and external test groups.
- Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
- Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
- Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue.
- Provide test specifications to quality assurance staff.
- Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
- Prepare two-dimensional concept layouts or three-dimensional mock-ups.
- Determine supplementary virtual features, such as currency, item catalog, menu design, and audio direction.
- Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
- Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
- Prepare and revise initial game sketches using two- and three-dimensional graphical design software.
- Collaborate with artists to achieve appropriate visual style.
- Oversee gameplay testing to ensure intended gaming experience and game adherence to original vision.
- Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
- Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.
- Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.
- Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue.
- Present new game design concepts to management and technical colleagues, including artists, animators, and programmers.
- Guide design discussions between development teams.
- Review or evaluate competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.
- Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
- Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.
- Consult with multiple stakeholders to define requirements and implement online features.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")