“How can I develop a Game Designer mindset?”
It seems like a simple question, but it’s not.
Let’s be clear. You’re passionate and know your stuff about games.
You can fairly and proudly consider yourself the most knowledgeable among your friends who just play games for the sake of playing without even noticing what they’re doing.
Yet, you know you need a change of pace to become a successful Game Designer.
However, every time you finish watching yet another GDC Talk or Game Design YouTube video, it’s always the same story over and over again.
Great analysis and good tips here and there, but your fundamental view of how games work has not changed much. You keep consuming them, searching for “the one”.
But, deeply, you crave more.
Here’s the truth. All these “Game Design web content” (even written by veterans) have one major problem that no one seems to catch.
They look, analyze, and design games with the same mindset as a player plays them.
They lack an analytical perspective, and, to them, games are just superficial “interactive adventures” to have fun with.
And that’s not all; it gets worse!
Often, these web contents proudly try to convince you that to develop the Game Designer mindset, all you need to do is “start designing games”. They treat it like a common sense process and something that happens naturally.
The consequence?
Passionate wanna-be Game Designers like you feel pushed to throw themselves right into practice without a clear direction or mental model of what to do.
In a situation like this, you can’t help but feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the complexity. I know because I've been there myself.
And trust me, you're not stupid; it's not your fault.
And what infuriates me tremendously is the risk of turning a burning creative passion into a real nightmare of frustration and discouragement.
Fear not, however, because there is an alternative for those who are serious about becoming a professional Game Designer.
Game Designers, especially great ones, are not just passionate players who improvise themselves to make games instead of playing them.
They’re real professionals who rewired their brains into a completely new way of looking and thinking about games. They, too, face difficult problems, but they do it with a method of reasoning that helps them instead of hindering them.
But at this point, you might think: “Why do I even need to develop this Analytical Game Designer Mindset?”
I want to go straight to the point, so I’ll tell you with 4 main reasons.
However, developing the Analytical Game Designer mindset is not like taking a magic pill or uploading something into your mind. It’s a journey where what matters is the process.
Unfortunately, I can’t totally delete that time and effort needed (nor anyone could), but I can make you a simple promise:
I will make the journey clear and straightforward so you can squeeze as much as possible from every bit of your learning efforts.
In the Game Design Compass newsletter, you won’t find Game Design tips and tricks, software tutorials, and other things that only stifle your design thinking skills.
Game Design Compass goes full throttle toward building the Analytical Game Designer Mindset.
As a Game Design Compass Member, every 1st of the month, you’ll get directly in your inbox:
The Captain’s Logbook: A unique long-form post with an in-depth analysis of Game Design concepts and the Game Industry as a whole. A detailed and clear piece of knowledge to read and study that will profoundly change the way you see games one month at a time.
The Game Of The Month: A game suggestion of something I find interesting and worth highlighting. The focus is always on games (often non-mainstream ones) that have great, meaningful game design choices so you can feel the change in how you see games and watch your Analytical Mindset shaping.
The Analytical Telescope: 2 short-form analyses of interesting (or flawed) Game Design web content so you can further mold your Analytical Mindset and become an adaptable professional Game Designer who can analyze design details others can’t even see.
All of this is embedded in an email in which aesthetics and attention to detail take center stage.
Nothing has been left to chance so that you have a great experience every time you open the email in your inbox.
I know… It sounds like too much for a simple email… but that’s just the way I am. If I do something, I try to do it the best I can.
That’s why I designed every little detail (and keep doing it!) of the email’s structure so that it’s a pleasure for your eyes and, most importantly, honors your effort in learning.
As you can see, there is a lot of interesting stuff here, but let me say one important thing though.
This is not a newsletter to skim and to spend a few minutes one afternoon reading.
But it's for those who really want to change pace and think like real Game Designers.
It’s for those who want to develop critical and analytical thinking that doesn't fall for beliefs and give in to shallowness.
It’s for those who want to become experienced professional Game Designers who can face any challenge because they really understand how Game Design works.
What I can 100% guarantee you is that what you will receive is all original content that you have no hope of finding out there on the Web.
My mission is to wipe out all of the shallowness that floods and clutters Game Design content and prevents passionate people like you from taking your skills to the next level.
So, now it’s your turn!
If you’re ready to put in the necessary effort and start the journey that will develop your Analytical Game Designer mindset, don’t hold back!
Leave your contact information in the form below to sign up for the Game Design Compass for FREE!