20.11.2025 – Guest Speaker Megan Matthews
Megan’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sketchbookmegan/
━◦○◦━◦○◦━
In week 8 we got an opportunity to talk to Megan Matthews, who specializes in accessibility and level design in the game creation industry.
Megan’s journey in the industry began with working on many of her own projects at home. After graduating from Winchester School of Art, she attended the summer program organized by the university and later applied for a junior designer position. Megan shared with us that she attempted to work on many things simultaneously (attending summer program and working for Playtra games), however, that resulted in a rather fast burn out, and she had to take a break. I found this to be reassuring because if at some point in my career I find myself facing a creative blockage, it means that it is okay to take a pause and consider my next steps.
After the break Megan applied for an environment designer role; however, she got rejected. Her advice for us was to keep trying and always come off as enthusiastic – that way companies that reject you might help you look for a job in other places.
Eventually, she managed to land herself a job at UsTwo Games as a Junior Game Designer. Main factors that allowed for that were her strong portfolio and good understanding of their current game and genre. She introduced us to phases of a project at UsTwo Games and went on to explain how different aspects of making a game look like. Those included level and puzzle design, progression, balance, game structure, as well as playtesting and understanding data. I found the insight on that useful, as it shows what one should be prepared for when applying for a job at a medium-sized studio.
Megan highlighted the importance of always considering accessibility – reading up on all regulations is essential and getting trained in that area might also prove to be useful.
We were also given portfolio tips which I found valuable – the first one of them was to “level design your portfolio”. It is important to think about how the hiring manager is going to navigate through your work and if they can absorb the information quickly. The landing page needs to be simple and clean with a small introduction, and the whole portfolio should feature 4-6 key projects. Highlight and explain your input into the project, all while staying as concise as possible.
Apart from preparing a solid portfolio, Megan advised us to think about what sort of designer we would like to be – one that crafts worlds, one that draws characters, or someone who writes a story. I have always found myself drawn to all three of these aspects; however, this reminded me that at some point it is necessary to choose a specialization. In my case, it would probably be character design.
Like many of our previous guests, Megan emphasized the importance of networking, which should come off as natural, rather than forced. As an introvert, this task does seem challenging but seeing how vital it is in the game design industry, it is an aspect I will be trying to improve on even further.
Megan summarized her talk by reminding us that everyone will have a different path into the industry, and we should grab any opportunity that we get. Goals can change throughout the journey but in the midst of chasing after a career we should also always remember to look after ourselves.
━◦○◦━◦○◦━