A game designer decides what a game should be and brings together various skills to create fun and engaging gameplay. Game design involves considering artistic vision, audience needs, game mechanics, story, and technology. Designers iterate through playtesting to find the right balance of challenge and skill that keeps players in a state of "flow". Successful games meet the needs of the development team, client, audience and allow the designer's creativity and vision to shine through.

1. What does a Game Designer do?Jesse Schell

5. MITREJECTED!

9. DisneyQuest

10. Head Mounted Display

12. CAVE - Computer Augmented Virtual Environment

18. Game Design Class

20. Pixie Hollow

21. Toy Story Mania

22. Sum of All Thrills

23. What kinds of companies are involved making videogames?Console ManufacturerDevelopment StudioPublisher

24. What kinds of people are needed to make games?ProgrammersArtistsAnimatorsWritersMusiciansSound DesignersProducersAnd, oh, yeah, Game Designers

25. What does “game design” mean?Game Design is the act of deciding what a game should be.

26. What skills does Game Designer need to be good at?AnimationAnthropologyArchitectureArtBrainstormingBusinessCinematographyCommunicationCreative WritingEconomicsEngineeringHistoryInterface DesignManagementMathematicsMusicPsychologyPublic SpeakingSound DesignTechnical WritingVisual Arts…and much more!

27. So… How do you make a game?Think of an idea.Try it out.Keep changing it and testing it until it seems good enough.

28. The Eight Filters of “Good Enough”Artistic Impulse – Does this game feel right?Demographics – Will the intended audience like this game?Experience Design – Is this a well-designed game?Innovation – Is this game novel enough?Business and Marketing – Will this game be profitable?Engineering – Is it technically possible to build this game?Social / Community – Does this game meet our social and community goals? Playtesting– Do the playtesters enjoy this game enough?

30. TeamClientGameSelfAudience

31. 1. Team

32. Improvisational Acting

33. Building Virtual Worlds

35. 2. Client

36. 3. Audience

42. 4. Game

46. AestheticsMechanicsStoryTechnologyThe Elemental Tetrad

47. Two Key QuestionsWhat is the GOAL?What are the OBSTACLES?

48. High InterestMedium InterestLow Interest

49. A Good interest CurveInterestTime

50. A Bad Interest CurveInterestTime

51. The Flow ChannelFunAnxietyChallengesBoredomSkills

52. The Flow ChannelFunAnxietyChallengesBoredomSkills

53. 5. Self

55. =+=+=+=+=+

56. But why go through all this?

62. Thanks!Email: jesse@schellgames.comTwitter: @jesseschellSlides: slideshare.net/jesseschell