In this week’s guest lecture, multidisciplinary game designer Megan Matthews offered an honest, insightful and deeply encouraging look into what it means to work in the games industry, particularly a smaller company. Megan shared ger journey into the industry, the realities of studio life and practical advice for aspiring designers.
Megan’s journey began long before university. Beforehand she spent her earlier years creating small projects at home, experimenting and teaching herself through making. Once at University she immersed herself in game jams, discovering collaboration and rapid prototyping as essential learning tools.
A pivotal moment came when someone reached out to her on Twitter and landed a three-month paid summer programme. Along with this she was also offered a junior level designer job by a guest lecturer she had during her time at University. They managed to secure these two jobs thanks to a strong portfolio and a clear understanding of the studio’s games and genres.
But her journey wasn’t without her challenges. Overwork led to burnout, pushing her to step back and try freelance environment design. Rejection also followed due to lack of experience, but each “no” came with help and guidance that helped her grow.
Megan now works as a mid-level designer at ‘ustwo games’, a small studio with around 30 people. They broke down their project pipeline which includes:
- Concepting
- Prototyping
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-launch refinement
Prototyping, they explained, is where ideas begin to breathe. Using Miro boards, paper sketches and quick mechanical tests are all different methods of prototyping that allow designers to explore possibilities and encounter any issues before committing to full production.
Megan described level design as an artistical and technical process. It often starts on paper and evolves through sketches. After this process it then shifts to white boxing (building simple block-outs to test gameplay). Visual scripting also supports this stage, helping designers quickly test out ideas without deep coding.
Progression design also plays a vital role. Using spreadsheets and difficulty charts, designers map how a game feels from start to finish, ensuring pacing and challenge stay balanced.
Megan also emphasised how playtesting is essential. Feedback on elements like eye strain or flashing requires the team to make a risk assessment to plan out and ensure how to fix certain problems for players and whether it’s possible in the time span they have.
At ustwo, collaboration is essential. Megan shared several tools and methods they use:
- Cool Boards to sort and rank game concepts
- Crazy 8s for rapid ideation
- Paper prototypes for early mechanical testing
- Show and tell sessions to share progress and receive feedback
Alongside this Megan also offered clear and practical portfolio advice:
- Keep the landing page simple
- Show projects upfront
- Include diagrams, whitebox screenshots and gameplay GIFs
- List your contributions
- Annotate images
- Be concise and write positively
The lecture closes with a reminder of the power of networking. Finding peers, building support groups and practicing continuously can open doors and boost confidence.
For those unsure how to start conversations, Megan suggested simple steps: say hi, approach people who are also alone, bring a friend or mentor, or try new games and talk to their developers.
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