What is the best way to talk about your experience with game design engines in an interview?

It’s important to know what game engines the studio is using and possibly the scripting language they using to program their game. It will give a better perspective of game engines to approach from your side to match up to the work environment. Knowing the major players in the engines and their limitations is important. What type of game is being made and the size of the game needs to be considered. Also features of the engine that support collaboration if for medium to big teams. Solo developers need more resources that can be of access in the community. These all variables to consider when picking an engine.

?? There is no such things as "game design engines", there game engines or game editors, but no engine meant for game design itself. So the term is blurry or incorrect. I know there are a few tools to help system design but I don't think this is about them? I would fix that denomination.

I switched between the game engines Unity and Unreal Engine, but mainly Unity due to processing power of my laptop. I use clip paint studio and blender for my art models and 2d art. And for my music I use Logic Pro. I tend to keep my software cheap and resources I use free or cheap as possible . I am on a fixed income and must make do with what I have to accomplish my goals. Sometimes you don’t need the best tools to make the best games, but the passion and willingness to learn wherever knowledge presents itself for you to learn it.

I believe showing a portfolio can showcase the best "TLDR" version and capability of skills and abilities. It's vital to show previous work in one place on a portfolio, but it's great if the best work is showcased on top. For example, on the portfolio website, all previous work can be shown on separate pages instead of the home page; meanwhile, the best work or best relative work can be displayed on top or home page. This will help others to find what they are looking for.

By using your mouth. I mean, you could try using body language alone, but it’s not going to be very effective. Is my answer as nonsensical as the question? Do I get the job?

This is possibly the most important area. Although specific tools can become vital, technology is trendy and transient. Showing your ability to adopt and adapt to new tools and quickly become efficient, as well as effective in leveraging their capabilities, is something every employer should be looking for - unless they want a pair of hands for a short term task, to fill an urgent skills gap, in which case, specifics about tool use of choice is going to hold sway in the interview.

I am always growing and learning. Life itself is game and you always learning. It is important to remember to grow and diversify your knowledge. It will help you as a game designer and make your games have more depth and meaning. Read, read, read! Fiction, nonfiction, etc. change it up never settle for genre! There always something to learn and be had to help your process. You maybe working on a game programming issue and a philosophy quote or a silly story is what helps make it click to solve it. Never underestimate learning and enjoying the journey. Life is a game that is meant to be treasured.

How do you use this game engine to do z, y, or z? How did you overcome this issue? How do you overcome indecisiveness? When do you know your game is starting to shape into something magical? When do you know to stay over?

Key question: is the contract a temp job or long-term prospect? If the latter, then you need to find out and test what the employer’s values are - what really drives them: profit, originality, customer centricity, market penetration / trend opportunism, etc. And be honest with yourself - do you share their values? If you don’t, I’d say you’ll never do your best work.