It’s been exactly a year since I left the game studio I co-founded and spent 11 years as Creative and Design Director. Back then, being a game designer meant I was the head of a design team, overseeing multiple games at once. I created pitches, prototyped new ideas, checked build quality, and mentored the designers.
When I left, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do - maybe teach game design part-time, maybe be a game design consultant. I thought I’d have more time to rest and figure things out, but within a few weeks, I had my first consulting client. Within a few months, I was teaching in two higher education institutions. Since then, my understanding of game design has changed considerably.
As a game design consultant, I must be ready to adapt to whatever the client needs. Sometimes it’s a build review, sometimes it’s a pitch, sometimes it’s a feature, sometimes it’s a whole game. Unlike being in one studio, the types of games I work on (and even their platforms) can vary wildly. My favorite setup so far has been the retainer model, where I support a games team for a few months. One of the things I missed most since going independent was being part of a development team: the collaboration, finding problems together - and solving them together. Being on retainer helps me feel like I’m part of a team again, even with a limited capacity.
Teaching game design to college and university students is its own challenge. My students and I don’t share the same design language; they played different games growing up, and sometimes their opinions of games come from watching other people play on YouTube or Twitch. It wasn’t enough for me to just talk about my decades of design experience; I have to make sure my examples are relatable, my exercises and assignments relevant. And the amount of prep work necessary to create materials for game design, game writing, AND level design classes? I can’t imagine teaching full-time, because part-time is already a huge workload!
Looking back at the past year, I realize I’ve spent more time studying game design than I ever did while I had a full-time job. I’ve played so many games (my Steam debt is actually decreasing!). I’ve read more books, articles, and reports; listened to more podcasts; watched more game dev videos. I’ve learned three game engines for class: Fiero, which I collaborated with here, Twine, and Inform. In order to be a good consultant and teacher, I’ve had to sharpen my design saw more than ever before. And I could only do all of these because I didn’t have a 9-to-5. I wasn’t stressed trying to keep a company running. My brain had time to play and learn, and for this, I’m grateful.
While I miss being part of a company sometimes, I am happy where I am. I feel aligned. I’m helping people make games, I get to mentor young and future devs, and I can schedule my day around things I want to do. I don’t know where I’ll be a year from now, and that’s okay. I’m looking forward to seeing where life takes me :) Until then, I’ll keep sharing what I learn about game design here on my blog. Thanks for reading!
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