As the person who came up with this idea and my past experience in Year 2, I will be the Primary Game Designer and Programmer for this project. But what does that entail?

In this project, I’ve taken on a combined role that reflects both creative leadership and technical execution. Research into industry roles shows that these responsibilities are distinct but often closely intertwined, especially in smaller teams or solo development.

Primary Game Designer

As the Primary Game Designer, I’m responsible for shaping the game’s core experience, including:

• Concept development and core mechanics
• Rules, progression, and player interaction
• Narrative and systems flow
• Communicating ideas to guide implementation

Industry descriptions emphasise that designers are the creative architects of a game, defining what the game is and how players experience it.

Programmer — Technical Implementation

As the Programmer, I translate design into a playable experience by:

• Writing code to implement mechanics and systems
• Integrating assets into a functioning game
• Optimising performance and fixing bugs
• Building prototypes to test and refine ideas

In the games industry, programmers are essential in making game design functional, allowing creative concepts to become interactive software.

Why These roles matter

Taking on both roles means I’m accountable for:

• Creative direction (what the game is and how it feels)
• Technical realisation (how the game actually works)
• Iteration (testing, evaluating, and improving systems)

This aligns with real industry practice where smaller teams or lead roles often overlap design and programming responsibilities, and programmers must understand design intent as well as technical constraints.

What This Means for My Practice

This combined role will help me develop:

• Communication skills — Articulating ideas to myself and my teammate
• Critical judgement — Knowing when to prioritise polish vs. feasibility
• Iterative thinking — Building and refining prototypes

These are core skills required in the industry, and documenting them explicitly shows reflective awareness and industry relevance.

What This Means for Me

This project will act as a large portfolio piece, letting me portray a variety of my skills to potential employers:

• Game Designer skills
  • Level design
  • Feature design
  • UI/UX design
• Familiarity with the Unity Game Engine
• Using an object-oriented programming language in C#
• My ability to work under a deadline

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Areas I’m doing well in	Weaknesses Areas need improving
Passionate about programming and designing the game Experience with 2D game creation in Unity Experience playing Platformer / Puzzle Games	Not familiar with workflows that import assets into the game engine – Unity Animator, Tilemaps etc. Unfamiliar with Unity’s new input system – adding controller input, changing inputs in settings etc. Only some experience with creating scalable systems and/or workflows
Opportunities External Factors that can continue to develop my strengths	Threats Potential risks/problems caused by external factors
Precise deadline keeps me focused and not overly ambitious Small team size gives me more tasks to develop my skills	Health Personal affairs Scope may change Time management

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References:

Polydin. (2023). Game Design and game Programming | A Creative Partnership. [online] Available at: https://polydin.com/game-design-and-game-programming/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Prospects.ac.uk. (2024). Game designer job profile | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/game-designer?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Cgspectrum.com. (2024). Game Programmer Job Description, Salary, Skills & Software. [online] Available at: https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/game-programmer?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Video game development. Wikipedia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_development?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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