Thread by @MorelloNMST

Let's discuss game design education and post-graduate programs. I have a bit of a dour take, but I hope it can be useful - and maybe we can even find the silver linings.

It's something I've spent potentially too much time thinking about.

While I have not experienced these classes first hand, I have been a hiring manager for about 10 years. I've had the opportunity to review a *lot* of candidates, resumes, and conduct a lot of interviews.

My experience is from an "I want to find good junior designers" POV

I'll start with generalizations, then we'll move onto exceptions, and then potential things you can do if you find yourself in a bad spot with this.

I don't think there are any blistering-hot takes in here - this isn't an uncommon convo - but I want to make sure new folks see it

* Generalizations

There are a lot of schools offering Game Design degrees, and that number is growing every year.

Most of these programs are post-graduate, masters programs. There are some 4-year bachelor's majors, and I don't think any (?) doctorate ones.

The rough news is: most of these degrees are *not helpful* for getting a job as a game designer. In fact, most of the time I feel another degree would be more useful for game design than trying to learn game design.

There are a lot of potential reasons, depending on the program.

1) They don't teach actual game design.

A lot of courses teach "general development" skills in their design courses. Now, many of these skills are useful to being a good game designer, but they aren't the main differentiators.

It's like doing all side quests, not the main quest

You'll learn some skills around documentation, using common engines (Unity is popular in school, UE sometimes) doing some student projects, and talking a bit about theory.

This is all useful, but this on a resume doesn't do a ton.

It doesn't tell me about *design*

Design is a broad field, and the key differentiators generally include

* Analytical problem solving
* Bias management
* Prioritization
* Root cause analysis
* Iterating effectively
* Working within a cross-functional team
* Balancing tradeoffs
* Communication & listening

The overlap of what courses are teaching here, and what I need to see come through on the portfolio is often at odds.

A lot of candidates seem to be spun that their Unity chops will make them qualified, when it's likely we're going to OJT your scripting anyhow in something else.

Scripting can be in a myriad of languages, engines, or toolsets. I've worked in proprietary ones, middleware (Unreal) and literally "here's some colored .txt files to write some modified lua in".

I learned each of those on the job, in the role. We account for training that up.

The group project work could teach this, but often fails to define the role of a designer, (and the types of roles you can be!) and how to work with your teams effectively.

They also aren't guiding design students work towards portfolio-ready projects, which leads me to...

2) Lack of Portfolio work

Once you have your first role under your belt, your resume can carry a lot more weight. You can point to work that is actually shipped and break down the design.

When you're new, portfolio (what you have made, and how you communicate it) is everything.

Many of the skills I listed are *very hard* to evaluate, and are open to interpretation. It's why the portfolio matters - when we can talk about what you've made, we can discuss the design behind it and what your were thinking when you made it.

One misconception is that "what I'd like to make" is a good measure of design.

Homie if I could be evaluated on what I'd *like* to make I'd be the greatest designer ever. We probably all would ;)

The difference from inception to ship is so much of design craft.

3) Emotional skills

I don't wanna beat up school too hard for this one, but this is a huge thing for a new designer. These skills are teachable (and frankly I pride myself in at least trying to teach designers this) but they're harder to teach, and harder to learn.

This is one of the big reasons a lot of entry-level candidates are internal transfers. We can evaluate this over months and years. We get to know more about their approach to thinking, people, teams.

I don't want amazing junior designers who are shitlords - at any cost.

This is where things like separating your opinion from your analysis, being open-minded, curious, and intellectually generous come in.

These are good markers for someone who will become a great career designers, not someone to just "do work now."

4) Varied role expectations

Design has one of the most variable expectation sets depending on your company, role and project. Working for somewhere like Riot and somewhere like Sony Santa Monica require sometimes unrecognizably different focuses.

Schools are disadvantaged.

It's smart for them to want to make their classes hirable and employable - but who are they making you hirable for? This is an unattainable standard for an educational body, so they have to try something.

Which I think is to ready you for scripter roles in AAA studios.

Even in the threads this month, I've worked to try to demystify game design and I still don't think it's easy or crisp to share what it exactly is.

Educating for that is so, so hard that I think most programs are set up to fail.

* Exceptions

Now there are some exceptions! But remember exceptions are just that - not counters to the rule, but examples of individual items bucking the trend.

Finding one of these exceptions can be helpful, because they don't do the things I listed above.

Some schools have very good programs, but it's *rare*.

DigiPen in WA has probably the best program, and a lot of that is because they teach you about design AND make you learn how to do something else, too. They have a strong faculty and more rigorous course.

The Guildhall at SMU does a pretty decent job, but I think their program is under some shifts, so this might get better or worse soon. I think they tend to be a stronger fit for artists and producers from what I've seen, but they do include portfolio work.

There may be others since I've not hired hardcore for a few years, but these are literally the two I know that were producing intriguing junior candidates.

Full Sail did for awhile, but It's gotten spotty.

@Max_Grossman is I think the only senior person I've met with a specific design degree that I know of, for what that's worth.

He might be able to speak to his journey as an educated person. Unlike me, who is more like a dumbass who got the right shot at the right time :)

* Oh no!

So maybe you've put some money and time into a game design degree, and now you're sad. It's OK! You can leverage your school time to overcome these challenges!

You can still get value - just don't count on the degree to make you stand out.

1) BUILD A PORTFOLIO

You're making stuff in engines in these classes. Save a local copy, put it in your portfolio, and be ready to share and discuss it.

Very few student projects are Narbtacular Drop-level, but you can still use this to share what you learned.

2) Retro your work with yourself/your class

Go back over the work. What did you learn? What went well? What would you do differently now that you built this?

Learn the real takeaways. Use it for actual design practice. Don't just get a grade and go.

3) Pursue the "usual" methods

My pinned thread is a quick primer on how to get in the industry; if you learned the right skills and can apply them, make a mod, or

Find an entry-level role in another field, or

Apply experience and know-how from any relevant undergrad work.

School is teaching you things, but you'll have to guide your learning more. I say this with a healthy dose of hypocrisy because I struggled with that in school too :) Likely why I stopped going.

But most critically, your degree is not very useful in and of itself.

Skills can be

I'd love to hear about more experiences, too! Did you get hired from a design program, or hired someone from one? Are you a hiring manager who has some more exceptions? A faculty member with other insight?

Please do tell. I'd love to hear about it.