Game design is a creative and rewarding career, but it can also be stressful and demanding. You may face long hours, tight deadlines, difficult feedback, or technical issues that drain your energy and enthusiasm. How do you keep your passion as a game designer without burning out? Here are some tips to help you stay motivated, inspired, and productive.
Why do you want to make games? What is your vision, your message, your goal? Having a clear sense of purpose can help you focus on what matters and avoid distractions. It can also give you a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction when you see your game come to life. Remind yourself of your purpose regularly, and use it as a guide for your decisions and actions.
I wanted to be an Animator in film. I found games instead!! I started college at 30. Most of the students I knew were 10 years younger and most never had a job. So I started teaching everyone that needed help how to find a job. Well animation got put on the shelf for my new life in Recruiting!!! I started in Games in 2008 and I never looked back!! I saw it as my goal to teach Developers how to make it to their dreams!!! So many did not believe me that being a Dev was a job and that it took a lot of time, patience, studying, learning how to work with others and that it is bigger than yourself!! If this is your DREAM, go for it!!! Be ready for the challenges and keep your focus!!
You want to find your purpose as a game designer? Make a game. Musicians play music, writers write, artists create art. If you want to be a game designer, you must make a game. It's just that simple.
Find Inspiration Everywhere: Keep an open mind and draw inspiration from everyday life, nature, art, or history. Sometimes, unexpected sources can spark brilliant ideas. Stay Informed: Keep up with industry trends, attend conferences, and read articles or books related to game design. Being aware of the latest developments can fuel your passion. Diversify Your Interests: Explore various forms of entertainment, not just video games. Books, movies, music, or even outdoor activities can provide fresh perspectives and inspiration.
A natural curiosity, a rational mindset, and a desire to innovate are key attributes of a designer, especially when facing constant challenges throughout development. It is these aspects that can help steer you through difficult times and serve as a reminder of why you got invested in games in the first place.
Becoming a game developer is one of the greatest things that has happened to me. When I joined the industry a few years ago, the first thing that came to my mind was asking myself every day why I was doing this. After working with a great team and being able to ship my first project, the answer to that question suddenly became obvious: to create the same amazing experiences that I had when I was a kid, experiences that motivated me to join the industry. Additionally, I believe there's one characteristic every great game developer I've met has in common, and that is passion. Like every job, game development has its good and bad aspects, but in the end, passion for your projects is gonna be the fuel that will drive you to give your all
Game design is a complex and multidisciplinary process that requires a lot of skills, knowledge, and collaboration. It can be tempting to take on too much, or to neglect some aspects of your work. However, this can lead to stress, frustration, and poor quality. To balance your workload, you need to prioritize your tasks, set realistic goals, delegate or outsource when possible, and learn to say no when necessary. You also need to take breaks, rest, and recharge your batteries.
Burnout due to overwork is often a consequence of poor planning and dysfunctional management in game development. Keeping expectations reasonable and clear is crucial to avoiding burnout, as an excessive workload looming over the team can be a source of overwhelm. Rather than forcing adherence to unrealistic deadlines, it is better to build overages into milestone planning or be prepared to cut scope—feature creep is real!—while fostering open communication about decisions. Allowing game developers creative latitude cultivates a sense of pride that may mitigate feelings of loss of control prevalent with burnout. It is important to recognize—even reward!—teams for achieving development goals in a healthy, sustainable way.
A parable about two lumberjacks, one young, one old. The younger is fast, and relentless; he challenges the older one, “I bet I can chop down more trees in one day than you!” The elder smiles and says, “Let’s see what you can do” At the crack of dawn, he sets to it, chopping away with all his might. As his first tree comes down, he looks over—and the older one is sitting down. “I’ve got this!” he thought, resuming his pace. But day’s end, the young lumberjack is exhausted. The old lumberjack is tired too, but looks a bit better off. The count comes and… the old lumberjack has won! Stunned, the young one asks his elder, “How? Every time I looked at you, you were taking a break!” “Ah, that,” the old one replies. “I was sharpening my axe”.
How do I keep myself creative without burning out? Actually… I do not. It's time to say out loud. This. Is. Normal. Game designers are people too. I have two simple words to deal with burn-out: Speak and Change. Speak to your colleagues, to people you like and care. Ask them for help, take your mind off your current task for some time. If it doesn't help, change something: working schedule, project, find a new job. Sometimes it isn't your fault at all. Pandemic, war, debatable higher management decisions, this list can be lengthy. Don't blame yourself too much.
I have been working as a game designer, producer, and developer for over 14 years. I've never experienced burnout, and I don't think I ever will because games are my life. I work and live in them. In my opinion, burnout only threatens those who work in game design but deep down, their heart and soul desire something else. I love creating, so from time to time, I dive into both level design and programming. I enjoy bringing my ideas to life, even if it's just in the form of a prototype, to understand their feasibility.
Learning to say no is probably one of the most important things on the list — and the hardest. Especially when working with games, I feel that people have a tendency of taking on too much work. Not necessarily because they're asked to, but because they feel that they want or have to. We're all passionate about what we do and want to make great games, which makes it harder to say no. I'd say that it's better to fall short and hopefully understand why, than succeed by working too much, setting unrealistic expectations, and maybe also blindsiding production or management.
Game design is not a solitary activity. You need to communicate with your team, your clients, your players, and your peers. Feedback is essential for improving your game, learning from your mistakes, and validating your ideas. However, feedback can also be challenging, especially if it is negative, conflicting, or unclear. To seek feedback and support, you need to be open-minded, respectful, and constructive. You also need to find a balance between listening to others and trusting your own judgment.
Game design is creating experiences FOR others, that express an idea YOU wanted them to experience. As a result, to achieve your aims, you need to help them achieve theirs. Create games to provoke an emotion, a memory, train a skill or craft an experience they will be grateful for. The best way to do that is to try your ideas out often and course correct constantly.
I believe games are the sum of the experiences people poured into it. How much is poured into a game depends on how much you or your team believe in what you are crafting together. You can chart a path up to the mountain peak, be a trailblazer or follow in sure footsteps, but if you stray down your own path without being mindful of who is following your trail will get you lost in the woods, and leave you with a confusing experience of a game as a product. Appreciate the effort that goes into your game from every individual, stay mindful of how it feeds into the experience you're creating, and be intentional in your decisions moving forward.
The field of User Testing has become a much bigger part of the games industry in the last decade as games reach a much larger and more accessible market. Not only do we now receive feedback from in-house testing but with Beta tests and Early Access we're now listening to more voices than ever, and that can become overwhelming fast. When testing any product its always best to not get too caught up in fixing every little mistake and complaint an individual has and instead look at the bigger picture. How are the majority of players feeling about this new feature? How does this compare to any collected data and metrics? How have other products fixed this issue? Its by taking that step back and analysing feedback that real change is made.
Game Design offers a lot of creative space and there are lot of success stories about "genius game designers" who made "masterpiece games". Adopting such mindset can hurt you in long-term. One of the major problems in game design is the "game designer's ego". Ego can prevent you from sharing your work and ideas early on with the team. This can lead to difficulties getting the "buy in" from the other team members. The sooner you prepare yourself to receive the feedback and support, the better your final outcome of the team can become. Remember. Game design is not only about "YOU" and you need others to become the best version of yourself.
Share your work with others and be open to constructive criticism. Feedback can help you refine your designs and stay motivated to improve.
Game design is a dynamic and evolving field that offers endless possibilities for innovation and exploration. You can always find new ways to express yourself, to challenge yourself, and to surprise your players. Experimenting and learning can help you keep your passion as a game designer, as well as your skills and knowledge. To experiment and learn, you need to be curious, adventurous, and flexible. You also need to accept failure as part of the process, and learn from it.
Keep the big picture in mind. Often when you're getting deep into the details of just one mechanism in the design it can feel like getting trapped in a maze. Zoom out and review your initial thoughts about that mechanism -- often that will give you a fresh perspective on how to tackle it.
In digital game development, there's no way around the technology and design patterns involved in that technology. Use game engine tools. Build prototypes. Make boardgame prototypes to test key ideas. In the book Challenges for Game Designers, the authors (Romero and Schreiber) nail this: “A painter gets better by making lots of paintings; sculptors hone their craft by making sculptures; and game designers improve their skills by designing lots of games.”
Definitely invest in learning and self development. I highly recommend going to conferences / meetups - even the local ones. Speaking with others about a common passion is how you can keep the flame up!
As a creative mind, I know how important it is to constantly expose myself to new and inspiring experiences. They help me to grow, learn and challenge myself in my work and life. That's why I always try to seek out opportunities that can enrich my creativity and broaden my perspective. Whether it's traveling, reading, listening, or experimenting, I believe that every experience can be a source of inspiration and motivation for me and others.
I definitely recommend to explore and learn beyond just core game design skills. The creative canvas of game development offers many opportunities on how to evolve gaming experience to new levels. Therefore I suggest to look for inspiration in other areas than just playing the games. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Whether it is your local gallery, hike in the nature, typography course or just observation of daily life during your morning commute to work
Game design is a rewarding career, but it can also be hard to appreciate your achievements. You may focus on the flaws, the problems, or the unfinished features of your game. You may compare yourself to others, or feel like you are not good enough. To celebrate your achievements, you need to recognize your efforts, your progress, and your impact. You also need to share your success with others, and appreciate their contributions.
Whether it's a successful playtest or reaching a development milestone, take time to celebrate your achievements along the way.
Evaluating your work in game design is challenging. Unlike many jobs, game design lacks concrete metrics and people tend to be biased towards the negatives. However, I find that even a simple "that's cool!!" from coworkers can be refreshing if you can believe it. Embrace positive comments and small achievements as well as negative ones to have a more realistic view of your work and fuel your passion.
Ideas can come from anywhere; praise in public and ensure that an individual's contribution is recognised. Also remember that achievements are not always measured based on numerical stats or KPIs, improving the culture of the team and knowledge sharing are intangible benefits that someone can bring.
Seeing positive results is an essential part of every person - whether it is customer feedback, growing KPIs or a "good job" from your team. Enjoy these moments - this is why you are doing it.
This goes hand-in-hand with setting goals and milestones. Too big and it can seem far too looming/vast. Breaking things down to their essential components, set goals accordingly, and remember to celebrate to keep the moment going. Take the opportunity to thank the people involved (even if it was giving advice or insights that helped things break through or fall into place) when you celebrate.
Game design is a fun and enjoyable career, but it can also become boring, tedious, or stressful. You may lose sight of the joy and excitement of making games, or the fun and engagement of playing games. To have fun, you need to reconnect with your passion, your creativity, and your playfulness. You also need to have fun outside of work, and pursue other hobbies, interests, and activities that make you happy.
Most game designers play games in this "analyzing mode" in order to learn and get new ideas/inspiration from them, but in the end they are not really playing but working. Try to embrace the inner child in you and play some games just for fun/ because you liked them. Even old games that you already played for the nostalgia. It is important to find a healthy balance of other non-gaming or screen related activities, but in the end you want to keep your passion of playing games, so play games just for the enjoyment of playing them to keep the "fun" part outside the work part.
Life is too short to be serious. Most of the new ideas and experimentations do not end up well, so take it lightly. Every fail is an opportunity to learn something new - what went wrong? What can we do better next time?
My personal suggestion is to explore game design in all its forms. Play 1970s wargames. Try LARPing. Play modern and classic boardgames. Play games from genres that don't really interest you. There's so much history and genius to explore within game design, some which is lost even after a decade has past. Engaging with it directly may open your eyes to some excellent experiences and inspirations!
Play games! I know many artists do simple quick sketch exercises in the morning. Say, 20-minute drawings. I suggest you as a game designer play 20 minutes of random games in the morning to get your brain going. There are few better ways to get your brain going than finding a design you disagree with!
In game design, understanding 'fun' is essential. Immerse in games and fun-filled activities, not merely for relaxation, but to subconsciously absorb what makes them enjoyable.
I think an over-reliance on games both in and outside of the workplace can ultimately contribute to a lack of exposure to other influences. Try to keep an open mind and take inspiration from things that may not necessarily have a direct link, to ensure variety and keep ideas fresh.
I've encountered burnout multiple times in my journey as an indie game designer, given the demanding workload in this field. There have been instances where I dedicated long hours to projects, often pushing myself beyond my limits. However, I've come to view burnout not as a source of stress, but as an opportunity for growth. Each experience of burnout has taught me valuable lessons. I've learned how to better manage my workload and recognize my limits, helping me prevent future instances of burnout. It's true what they say: "If it doesn't break you, it makes you stronger."
I would suggest to make (and keep it) it as fun as possible. After all we are somewhat of archetypal mad engineers. Combine the uncombinable - mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, audio, patterns, meta games; anything will do. Go wild, burst with designs. Routine and mundane things would come along, but these are not why we are here in the first place.
I've come to realize that inspiration can truly sprout from the most unexpected sources (as a discipline we are very guilty to referencing other games too much). Here are two places outside of games I’ve found inspiration: Social Psychology: Delving into human behavior and interactions has proven invaluable for crafting missions. By understanding player emotions, motivations, and ethical dilemmas, I've been able to elevate my designs. Baking: Surprisingly, baking has taught me a great deal about systems design. Just as a baker carefully paces processes, systems must harmonize seamlessly to offer a balanced experience. It's a lesson in precision, consistency, and meticulous attention to detail.
There are areas of expertise where specialization is super important to achieve success and perfection. In some industries you need decades of practice to come close to being an expert in particular niche topic. Game design it's not like that. To improve as game designer and to avoid burnout you really need to have as wide interests in your life as possible. You can find new unique ideas everywhere and this novelty will ever keep you interested in your job.