I was asked a few questions for this article, "How to Get a Degree in Game Design" by U.S. News & World Report.
Here's what I discussed.
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>> How to Tell if a Game Design Career Is a Good Fit
Sang Nam, a computer game design professor at George Mason, says game design is more like a “marathon than a sprint.” Students who can cultivate a creative vision and have the resilience to rebuild and rethink to create the best product should consider entering the career field, he says.
“A strong indicator that a game design career may be right for you is your ability to experience and sustain what psychologists call the flow state – an optimal zone of engagement where you're fully immersed, energized and intrinsically motivated,” Nam wrote in an email. “If you’ve found yourself lost in time while imagining how to make a game more enjoyable or how to refine a player’s experience, you’re already thinking like a game designer.”
>>The Value of a Game Design Degree
A good game design program offers students a robust design foundation, allowing them to try classes in animation, production and storytelling while also being able to specialize in a particular skill, Nam says.
“Ultimately, the value of a game design degree is best assessed not only by its academic credentials, but by how effectively it prepares students to innovate, adapt, and thrive in an ever-evolving interactive media landscape,” Nam says.
“There are places in the country that really do a great job preparing students," Nam says. "But if you're in the middle of South Dakota or Southeast Ohio, versus being out on the West Coast," it's often harder to find viable in-person programs despite some exceptions, he suggests.
>> Misconceptions About Game Design Careers
“Game development requires a distinct and rigorous set of skills, including systems thinking, collaboration, technical proficiency and creative problem-solving,” Nam says. “The process of designing, coding, testing, and refining interactive systems is far more complex than simply enjoying gameplay.”
This article can be found at: https://lnkd.in/e5nHmtbN
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