Discovering your passion in game design

Today I wanna talk about something I experienced not very long ago. I am currently working on a card game, where I design most of the cards to give each of our 5 factions its distinctive identity. The other day I watched some players have fun with the cards I created and one of them, after the game, excitedly shared how cool his strategy was and how empowered he felt. Interestingly, he didn't comment on the game itself, despite the designers being present for feedback. This isn’t strange: we don’t entertain players, we provide the tools for them to entertain themselves. We can’t force fun onto them, we can simply encourage fun gameplay and hope that they will embrace it. In puzzle games, for instance, it is often stated that the objective is to make the player feel clever, and to do so the puzzle has to be simple and clear enough while appearing complex and difficult on the surface. For card games it’s the same thing, players take merit for the fun they’re having, but this time is because they feel in control of their experience. This event was not the thing that surprised me. What surprised me was my reaction: I was very happy that they took credit for the fun. It was one of those rare times where I clearly understood which kind of designer I want to be. I realized I’m happy the most when players feel good about themselves, when that sense of accomplishment is entirely theirs, when they walk out of a game happy with what they have done among the many options they had. Sometimes learning something about yourself as a designer can be as important as learning some new technique or tool. Once you know it, you can learn how to fuel your passion and direct it towards the right goal. Indeed, sometimes as designers we tend to think that the games we love as players are also games we would love designing, but this is not always true. For this reason it’s important to know your taste as a designer. On the other hand, if we happen to design something we wouldn't play, knowing what you love designing can keep you motivated and passionate.

Now, as I understand myself a little better, I can invest my energies into getting better at doing what I like. For example, in my case, I want players to use what I give them to have fun, so I probably should learn more about:

• Game systems 

• Synergy

• Abilities and skills

• Discovery 

• RPGs

• Card games

As someone who has just completed their studies, I think it’s important for me to understand what I like. So my takeaway for today is this: think about the happiest moment you had during your experiences as game designers. What were you happy about? What does this reveal about you? Where should you invest your energy to make it happen more often? Perhaps you like guiding players into a linear experience, where you have a great control over the emotions it will evoke. Or maybe you like players discovering exploits and glitches you knew nothing about. Games are a powerful medium, and each designer can impress a different vision or guide through a unique feeling.

These are just some thoughts I hope will help you on your journey. See you next week for another article!