Indiana Brown ✧ University Blog

Working in Game Design

Multidiscpiplinary game designer at Ustwo

Specialising in Acessability and Level Design.

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My Journey Into The Games Industry

• Making stuff at home
• University and Game Jams
  • Talked about project on Twitter, got a bit of reach in the cosy games community
• First step into the industry, Laura on Codecoven reached out and said she should apply for their summer program.
• Dan, who came in to give a talk, also managed to give her a position as a Junior Level Designer Contract
• Hit burnout, became a freelance environment designer
• Went through the whole interview process for Botany Manor, was rejected but redirected to other companies who were looking for someone like her.
• Got hired at Ustwo as a Junior Games Designer!
  • Strong portfolio
  • Understanding of the current game and genre
  • Confident ability to answer design-based questions
    • “What do you think about the design of this thing” <- talk about the design, its strong and weak points

TIMELINE:

• Graduate Project
• Contracter as a Junior Level Designer at Playtra Games + Summer Program at Codecoven
• Ustwo Junior Games Designer

DESIGN AT USTWO GAMES

• Phases of project at Ustwo
  • Concepting
  • Prototyping
  • Pre-production
  • Production
  • Post-Launch

LEVEL/PUZZLE DESIGN TIPS

Think about how levels fit together, how players can progress without getting stuck, how to make a learning curve.

Puzzle games ebb and flow, it’s not a linear progression of harder and harder and harder.

Design Collaboration Tools

• Digital Cool Boards
• Crazy 8s
  • Write 8 thoughts, then present back to the group, and everyone votes
• Paper Prototypes
• One on one collaboration
• Show and tell feedback

Portfolio Tips

• Level Design your Portfolio
  • Where do you want the hiring manager to start?
  • What do you want them to travel to?
  • Can they absorb the information quickly?
  • Where does it look like they can travel to next?
• Project Page
  • Show your wide range knowledge here
  • Include a catchy image and a short description
• What to include under projects?
  • Diagrams
  • Greybox/Whitebox screenshots
  • Gameplay gifs (with descriptions)
  • List what you did
  • Postmortems/retrospectives
  • Trailer reels on their own is not that great, explaining is more useful
  • Keep it short and concise: use bullet points!

• Project Example:
  • Project name + status, role, link, and description
  • Gameplay trailer
  • Key areas of work I completed
  • Design sections, deep dive breakdown into puzzle design

• DO
  • Show appropriate work and how you did it
  • Explain what the project was and what stage it was in
  • Clearly explain your roel and what you did
  • Include annotated images
  • White positively

• DONT
  • Show innapropriate work (no NSFW)
  • Talk negatively about what otehr people did or didn’t do
  • Post many images with no explanation
  • Write an essay. If it takes too long to read, nobody will

Think: What sort of designer are you?

• Do you craft many worlds?
• Are you always drawing/sketching characters?
• Have you been writing stories?
• How are you prototyping?
• THESE ARE YOUR PASSIONS AND SKILLS!!! CONVEY THIS IN A PORTFOLIO!!!

The Power of Networking:

• Finding peers in the same field as you
• Creating a support network for you and those around you
• Networking is NOT supposed to be annoying
• You don’t have to network with professionals! Talk to other students too, one day they will have a job just like you!
• Networking is a continuous practcie
• It can be casual, serious, fun, playful, professional, or friendly
• Benefits of networking:
  • Give people a chance to remember you
  • Peer support group
  • Friendly faces at events
  • Taclkes imposter syndrome
  • People will come to you when a job opens up
  • Opportunity to learn from others
  • Talking to others can be inspiring
  • Builds your confidence
  • Allows the games industry to feel friendly and fun
• Starting Conversations
  • It’s ok to say, “I know you from social media”
  • Ask to join into a conversation if its an open space
  • If someone looks on their own, go over and say hi!!
  • Ask for help. if its an event, there are people around to help you!
  • Take a friend or mentor with you
  • Try new games, and talk to devs about their games
  • Go up to booths and ask them what their job is, what do they work on?
  • Ask questions, be curious, and open to sharing!
  • Practice your verbal introduction before attendingg events!

Key Takeaways:

• No one will have the same path
• Be open minded, take opportunities that suit you, goals can change
• Network! Get to know your peers!
• Look after yourself. It can be tough sometimes

Questions:

• In level design, what’s the first principles you think of?
• How do you know you’ve made an engaging puzzle in level design?
• HOW did you make the levels in Moument Valley
• What sort of design based questions do they ask in interviews?
  • ustwo – question on the application about games in a similar genre, wanted you to pick one of the games from the list, talk about a piece of design that you hate and why you think it’s bad. Did they actually say they didn’t like it, and did they explain why. Hone in on something, identify the problem, explain a solution. Or specific questions like have you worked on story based, etc etc
• What does an average day of work look like for you?
  • Depends on the time. right now, she’s just finished a project, and is between projects. So she’s in engine, watching tutorials, developing mechanics. A couple months ago during post launch, checking in with different departments checking everything works. Assignments are given, she spends a couple weeks on it, she moves on.
• In level design, what are the first principles you think of?
  • Depends on the level. If its a puzzle level, think about what exactly it is the player is learning. How can I get them to master this mechanic. Then make it get more complicated. Then the final level can be lots of things combined!
  • Just worked on an open world map, and that was a lot more about navigation. How does the player know where they are, how to prevent getting lost.
  • Identify the most important thing about the level, and make it revolve around that
• How much of your job is idea generation vs problem solving
  • 50/50. Depends on the type of production. In pre-production, it’s very idea generation, and post-launch is adding ideas. In the middle, it’s problem solving
• How do you know you’ve made an engaging puzzle?
  • If someone takes ages to finish a puzzle, but they don’t complain about the puzzle itself. No verbal frustration means no friction. They’re concentrating.
• Do you bump into alumni in work?
  • Flora came to work as a prototyper in Monument Valley 3, and was involved in all of the post launch
  • In code coven, an alumni worked with Megan and she referred them in Ustwo, and they now work together as well!
• How do you “network” without coming off as “using them”
  • Go into it with the mindset of talking to them to get a job. 99% of the time they won’t. Talk to them to learn more about your passions! Ask questions!!
• What do you feel about Linkedin as a platform?
  • The more socials you have, the more opportunities people have to reach out to you.
  • Don’t treat Linkedin like social media. Maintain professionalism. DO NOT MOAN.

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