What do you do if you're starting out in game design and want to explore potential career paths?

Work on your crafts. Pick one, and then practice: writing, modeling, animating, audio engineering, UI/UX, etc. There are great self-teaching resources and many industry-standard tools are free or have a free demo. Make a level in UE5. Code a 2D game in Unity. Make and animate some sprites in Aseprite. Record some VO! You can do most of these tasks as a weekend project. A good designer can speak the same language as the different teams, and you’ll be a stronger collaborator.

If you're starting in game design and want to explore potential career paths, think of yourself as a storyteller and puzzle builder. Each element in a game is like a puzzle piece, and your role as a game designer is to ensure they fit together seamlessly. While uniqueness is crucial, the ultimate goal is to create an enjoyable experience. After all, the essence of game design lies in crafting experiences that captivate and entertain players, regardless of the genre. So, please focus on making your games fun because that's what's important.

Live Operations is an excellent role. In this position, you can utilize your game design expertise to maximize your project's features. It offers a dual advantage: you gain a comprehensive view of a feature's performance in a live environment and its impact on key performance indicators (KPIs), while also gaining insights into what's needed from a game designer to enhance user engagement, retention, and monetization. Possessing both perspectives can be a formidable strength, and remember, "with great power comes great responsibility."

“Game Designer” is a broad term that can be used for anyone who makes a game. Anyone can design a game. There are many branches that a designer can take and would typically be known to be "T" or "V" shaped. This means that a designer would have in-depth knowledge of several areas of game development, maybe such as art, programming or sound design. A designer can fill multiple roles. There are also more in-depth roles a designer can take: Level Design - Plan layouts and grey boxes of levels in-engine. Mechanics Design - Create fun and engaging gameplay mechanics that are balanced and rewarding for players. UI Design - Create the UI for players to navigate through and use in-game. There's tons more to delve into as well!

Important elements to take in consideration as a Game Designer: Not the Idea guy: Other people are most likely to have better ideas. Listen, make them explain what they find fun: modelize, prototype and document. Not your game. You need to keep your head cool and be able to discard weak features and redesign them again and again, until it achieve the desired result. This desired result is usualy set by other people: Product Owner, Producer, Game director... Not about you. Among all the creative people required to make a game, you are the one who need to set aside your ego the most. Reassure, Convince, Seduce. Find a way to deeply understand what the game is supposed to acheive as an experience. Remember: Good Design is invisible

There's no such rule as everyone should know everything but having a basic understanding of everything that makes a game can be helpful.

Don't forget producers. Also in the modern context don't forget that that most of the above categories are super broad, and it's more likely you'll specialize (for example animators and artists are traditionally not the same group).

If you aim for specialization within an area: Keep in mind that the most prized specialisations are the more difficult to achieve, your level cannot just be on par with the market, you have to be beyond (cf all Character Designer wannabe...playing in Zbrush is insufficent, Anatomy matters a lot) Keep also in mind that being on a rare speciality doesn't garanty you to be useful... Starshape screw drivers are rare but rarely used. Keep yourself up to date with current technological advancments, owning your craft without following evolution is a path leading to uselesness. Be smart, treat your craft like something living through you, nourish it, nurture it, keep an eye open on how the world is evolving. Nobody is expecting you.