How To Interview (As) A Game Designer

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Scott Jennings| 31 Comments

A pretty good article on the subject here.

Look for signs of a deep interest in gaming. The resume should indicate gaming as a way of life, not just a job. Modding experience is especially a key sign. Anyone who wants to be a game designer has an extensive record of making games in their spare time, for free: making levels for favorite games, modding, writing game material, creating board games, RPG background, story writing, etc.

This is almost a stereotype now, but it’s there for a reason. Having something – anything – in your portfolio shows that You Mean Business and have something tangible you can point to that shows:

  • Your writing skills (and yes, spelling and grammar count)
  • Your ability to stay with a project to completion (if we’re going to invest in training you in our tools and procedures, this is kind of a big deal)
  • Your knowledge of what makes something fun

Another important trait, which the article somewhat hints at but not enough, is passionate opinion. For those who read MMO message boards, it may be a surprise that this can be difficult to find sometimes. For those who read this blog, it may even be more of a surprise that *I* had the problem of not expressing a strong opinion in interviews when I started interviewing as a designer. Luckily, someone pointed out that, you know, based on the past 10 years of my writing, they really did expect me to have an opinion or 12. It was OK.

In my last position, I interviewed a lot of designers. The ones we hired were ones that had something to show in many cases – but also the ones that had opinions and passion. My favorite question was, when asking someone what MMO they were currently playing (it was always World of Warcraft) to ask them what was their least favorite zone and why. The ones that shrugged and said “eh, I kinda liked them all” sent up danger flares. The ones that could explain passionately why they hated the CRAP out of Stranglethorn Vale passed. The one that said no, he actually couldn’t stand Nagrand, and listed off some very good reasons why, got to be our lead world builder. And I liked Nagrand.

Of course, you also have to do the other usual job interview stuff. Be personable, approachable, don’t check your watch 15 times during the interview (several did this) and above all, when we ask you what you did at your last job, don’t say “I was pretty burned out, so I did nothing but run BGs with my shadow priest all day” (yes, someone did this).

Then, for reasons I’m sure everyone’s pretty well aware of by now (hi2u, exploding Austin dev community!) I got to swallow my pride and do the interview circuit my own bad self. Strongly expressed opinions told while smiling? Check. Humility laced with self-assertiveness? Check. Prior body of work? Che… oh wait, we didn’t actually SHIP anything at NCsoft, and my sole design contribution to DAOC was an /autoloot command 2 weeks before I left. Guess I’d better wave my arms a lot for dramatic effect! It helped that I could wax eloquently on this point:

No design survives first contact with code: Ask them to describe an example of a feature change/cut and how they adapted to it. If they worked on a game, they should be able to describe at least one feature in the original design that was cut (for whatever reason), and describe why they chose that feature and how it impacted the rest of the game.

Oh BOY could I wax eloquently on that point. Dealing with this makes you an experienced designer/bitter, jaded old man. Some of the engineers came with me to John Galt from our project at NC, and they STILL taunt me about the long and painful process we went through. “So how doable do you think [random very reasonable design spec] is?” “You’ll never see it, and two years from now you’ll be drinking heavily and cursing my name.” “Right. Carry on.”

 

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  • Dekyriel

    Good insight, however it’s also a fact that everyone and their dogs want to be Game Designer these days. I’d say that another defining quality would be experience as a QA Tester, as you’d most likely have a good idea of the feasability of your own ideas then. ;)

  • Mox

    I’ve had a variant on this one a few times:

    “What we want is for the NPC allies to take cover positions around the door if the player wants to attack, and just hang around the player if he doesn’t want to attack.”

    So, Mr. Designer, you want me to write code that can read the player’s mind?

    Alarmingly, sometimes we can …

  • Vetarnias

    A stupid question, perhaps, but I have to ask it: How much coding ability or knowledge should a game designer actually have?

    It’s one thing to have a passion for creating board games and writing fantasy stories, but what does that mean if your knowledge of programming begins and ends with “hello world”, if that much?

    If you don’t know programming, how do you know what can or cannot be done in a game with the means at your disposal?

    If all it takes is a good imagination, vast knowledge of computer games and sound critical judgement, my guess is that half the readers of this blog would qualify for the job.

  • Mox

    I always like to work with designers who have the analytical faculties that suggest they’d make decent programmers, were they to try it. They are more likely to design game systems that are internally consistent. Perhaps this is just because I am a programmer myself and take a more “ludic” approach to game development, rather than the narrative approach that seems a little more popular these days.

  • Flimgoblin

    Vetarnias – The problem with requiring too much knowledge is you lock people into boxes – if you start worrying about how to implement something technically at the point where you’re designing the concepts you might disregard ideas that you think are impossible but are actually just difficult (you just don’t know how to do them yet)…

  • Vetarnias

    Still, one would assume an architect to have a solid engineering background and to take this into consideration while designing his building. Otherwise he is just begging for trouble at a later stage. Ditto if he ignores soil samples or the builders’ advice.

    I’m just a MMO player and never worked in the industry. Yet when I hear of giving pretty much carte blanche to designers, it just reminds me of those bosses who want to have everything for yesterday. And it just encourages them to give free rein to a “vision” which can lead to all sorts of excesses.

  • http://www.mobhunter.com Moorgard

    Another obstacle to the credibility of game designers is that the field attracts a good degree of charlatanry. The very nature of game design work (mostly ideas driven, no professional qualification necessary) attracts the kind of people who think they can BS their way into the job. Too many of them succeed and thus give designers an even worse name.

    This is one of the primary reasons so many bad decisions get made in MMO development. Oh, the stories I could tell…

  • http://www.damnedvulpine.com/ J.

    Yeah, Moorgard, and the confirmation from professionals like you have kept me frankly disgusted that the real narrative is, “It’s all about how connected you are, but there will be important questions to answer and you need to be articulate and passionate … but you could also just be a really good bullshitter, and you’ll get a job. And then you’ll get fired when the project’s canceled.”

  • http://beafraid.com hellfire

    I’ve toyed with the idea (more than once) of trying to earnestly “break in”. But at the end of the day it seems like folly. I honestly can’t think of anything *I* would bring to a team that and I’ve actually ran a community and “produced” a couple mods from start to finish.

    I don’t think just wanting it or having the experience and all that is enough. I think there also has to be a self-delusional aspect to your personality that allows you to believe, beyond a shadow of doubt, that you actually are a unique and precious snowflake and without you any and all projects are doomed to failure.

  • http://www.cesspit.net/ Abalieno

    Personal qualification is the one elements that NEVER misses from a job requirement, so WTF do you want?

    Besides, this was a post about how to *interview*, or how be at the interview. Personal qualification is kind of given.

    Then, personal qualification doesn’t necessarily exclude charlatanry (quite the opposite) and is recursively self-fulfilling. Once you have it, it can only increase. Then you have it more, charlatan or not.

    One of those system that people love because it’s self-preserving.

  • JuJutsu

    “Good insight, however it’s also a fact that everyone and their dogs want to be Game Designer these days.”

    Nope, I wouldn’t ever want a job as a game designer. As for my dog, why would he want a demotion?

  • DrewC

    @ hellfire:

    That self-delusional personality aspect is only a requirement for Lead Game Designers, non-leads can get by thinking “Wow I’m really lucky to have this job, I don’t deserve it.” In my experience, any leadership role, by its nature, requires someone who honestly believes they’re the best available person for the job. Which probably explains why most executives are bat-shit insane.

  • Pat

    I pretended to answer that zone question in my head and found myself stalling for time before I suddenly shouted “ASHENVALE!”

    Then I ended up bitching about Darkshore and Felwood first and then explaining how Ashenvale is actually more linear than those two because at least in Darkshore you can travel North or South from wherever you are without returning to the road.

    Seriously, I think Ashenvale beats Nagrand’s pants off in the stupid world design contest. Who’s bright idea was it to make a forest that is basically a long hallway with a bunch of rooms along it with no way to travel from room to room except that one hallway?

    I also used the adjective “fucking” in my rant. Hire me.

  • http://beafraid.com hellfire

    Darkshore with no mounts (as a character of that level would not have) is horrific. They should have put a secret passage in the crypts somewhere and the matching one in one of the graveyards. BAM, movement across the zone is now 1/4 of your time instead of 5/4. Yes. The travel is SO aggravating it actually takes more time than you actually have. Not to be confused with negative-time, which would be a good thing.

    Was that a creative enough solution for anyone? I require relocation expenses but not a company car. Offers kplzthx.

  • Ashendarei

    Absolutely F5$#ing HATE Desolace.

    The design of the place is HORRID for travel time, and the quests methodically (for horde) send you from one god-awful end of the continent and back multiple times!!

    at a time before you have your first mount unless you have a travel form, ghost wolf, or Aspect, you’re pretty much Fuxxed.

  • TPRJones

    As Alliance it would be Stonetalon Mountains, IMO, for much the same reasons mentioned.

    In general, any large zone with the base camp on one end instead of somewhere in the middle is going to be annoying for all the running back and forth the players will be forced to do to complete quests.

  • Nicademus

    I did a couple custom designed races for Excitbike on the NES… so when do I start?

    Oh and is that hot twentysomthing HR girl who did the intro single? Cause that’d make me want to work here alot more.

    =

    HIRED!

  • Nicademus

    From what I can tell game designers get laid off about as frequently as migrant CA berry pickers. Also for some odd reason they need to rotate between NoVa, Texas, and CA every three years.

    Not exactly the life of Riley.

  • Freakazoid

    There was a time I thought I could break into an industry like that, but after all the terrible things I’ve heard about over the years, it’s really turned me off. There’s no way I would sacrifice my sanity and tranquility to “make my own game” when it’s really just a compromised, half-sensical rush job that’ll get me fired.

    It’s become clear the game industry doesn’t need creative thinkers. It needs delusional maniacs that can stand being metaphorically punched in the nuts everyday and not call the gaming industry out on it.

  • Kayn

    One day I’ll actually get off my duff and do one of those Flash Games I’m apparently more than qualified to code and put those three years Game Design degree to good use…

    …grind my way slowly through projects, make some tacky yet-another-trying-to-be-Runescape browser MMO based on some madcap thinking and wrong-conclusion-reading of Bartle’s book…

    …and then one day maybe I’ll be able to get to the stage where I can stupendously blow an interview for the real games industry. Then I’ll be living the dream…

    As always though, my current MMO is Puzzle Pirates, which may make me a bit of a problem to interview…

  • DrewC

    @ Freakazoid:

    Creativity is, contrary to what 1st grade teachers say, very common. I recently hired two entry level Game Designers. Everyone I got written tests from was creative, what sorted the good tests from the bad was:

    -Organization
    -Clarity of Writing
    -Lack of Crazy

    Of course, the only people who got written tests were the ones who had something on their resume that showed me they were serious about making games. Entry level design jobs don’t pay well, and involve a lot of things that are Not Fun. When a Junior Designer quits that means I have to do his job, so I’m only going to hire someone who isn’t going to quit because the job “isn’t as fun as they thought it would be.” (in fairness, it was a CSR who quit with that as their reason, but the point stands).

  • Freakazoid

    I don’t think I said anything about fun, so I don’t know where you’re going with this. You pretty much validated what I was talking about: You only accept those who are willing to be beaten up for long hours and low pay for a long time, only to be laid off after a couple years when the studio closes or “restructures”.

  • http://gnomedepot.net Loredena

    The zone(s) I hate the most are Freeport in EQ2. They are dark and ugly and the layout is horrible — hills and winding roads with no clear path anywhere (and you can’t just jump over a wall for some unknown reason). Nothing is where you expect it to be, and everything looks the same. I detest the city.

    As far as hunting zones would be, most disliked is Nek Castle. Firstly because of the incredibly tedious unlock process, with the truly impressive running back and forth required. Not to mention that if you don’t follow a guide, you’ll never do it in the right order the first time and thus spend a few nights just getting everything opened up. Mostly though, I hate it because I kept being sent back to it, over and over and over again until I tested the mere idea.

  • http://gnomedepot.net Loredena

    meh. that’s “detested the mere idea”

    damn typos.

  • http://www.cesspit.net/ Abalieno

    On the matter of zone design I thought that “usability” in zone design was only a pet peeve of mine since I rarely saw comments that go in that direction.

    For “open world” I’m torn because I like the idea of a world that is shaped realistically and varied, with ridges, narrow passages, hidden spots. Then I also know the frustration when you are pushing desperately against a slope in the attempt to get over it (Guild Wars is the pinnacle of the worst). One solution is to have good visual cues and well designed roads, another is to make the engine behave “predictably” (see “terrain inclination and physical barriers” part), but there are still those two conflicting aims.

    Instead when it comes to man-made structures the lack of usability sometimes is excruciating. Like when you see EVERYONE jumping over a bridge instead of crossing it, or when you are trapped into a zone and have to circle all around it to find an exit.

    Too often art concept doesn’t contemplate usability. More than a design affair I think it would be useful to go to the conceptual artists and made them aware of the problem. If things starts well at that point, all that comes after will be simpler.

  • Axecleaver

    “They are dark and ugly and the layout is horrible — hills and winding roads with no clear path anywhere (and you can’t just jump over a wall for some unknown reason). Nothing is where you expect it to be, and everything looks the same. I detest the city.”

    Add in horrific traffic and that sounds strangely like Northern Virginia.

  • DrewC

    I was, in the main, agreeing with you. The only point where I disagree is the creativity. We need creativity, it’s just trivially easy to find.

    Also, I haven’t seen the rampant layoff side of the industry, but I don’t think that’s limited to the game industry in any event. When products fail and companies go under, or restructure, people get laid off.

  • DavidL

    “You’ll never see it, and two years from now you’ll be drinking heavily and cursing my name.”

    Thanks, Scott. This one may come in handy. Though I bet I can get them drinking and cursing in one year.

  • http://www.psychochild.org/ Psychochild

    Kayn wrote:
    As always though, my current MMO is Puzzle Pirates, which may make me a bit of a problem to interview…

    They’re doing it wrong if that’s the case.

    @DrewC

    You thought being a CSR would be fun, and you expect a lack of craziness from other people? Wow, compared to that concept, I’m downright well-adjusted. :P

  • Slyfeind

    I can’t imagine an erstwhile game designer *not* having a ton of games made on his or her own time. It’s like the difference between someone who writes, and someone who wants to be a writer. People who want to be writers go out and set up their laptops every Tuesday and Thursday at cafes and crack their knuckles and stuff like that. People who honestly *write* can’t stop themselves. They go nuts if they’re not putting words down every day. Those words NEED TO GET OUT, NOW. And those people are the successful writers; not the twits at the cafes.

  • gyrus

    Interesting that there is no mention of an ability to understand player psychology either here or on the original site?

    It talks about the ability to understand the mechanics of the a game, how a game might react to a player and about what the (potential) designer likes about his/her favorite games… yet not one word about how players might react to the game / game elements and why?

    Or how game design can influence players?