In the Beginning, There is the Designer

This post will consist of detailed notes on reading I have done.

  In Jesse Schell's book 'The Art of Games Design: A Book of Lenses' he describes game design as "the act of deciding what a game should be". In the first chapter 'In the Beginning, There is the Designer' he goes on to say that to be a game designer one must simply design games.

  The first chapter (which I am looking at for this post) starts by saying that confidence is key; Schell suggests that "If your confidence wavers, just repeat the magic words again: I am a game designer". This is because without confidence one might not allow themselves to push forward with their ideas, losing them to a thought process made up of worries and insecurities.

  On that topic of confidence, Schell also refers to the common belief of failure is learning, stating "If you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough, and you aren't really a game designer".

  Moving on to skills, Schell suggests that a game designer should use any and all skills available to them. He lists a lot of different skills, ranging from the obvious (animation, brainstorming, etc..) to the more broad but still helpful (architecture, history, etc..). Schell says "the more of these things you are comfortable working with, however imperfectly, the better off you will be", stating that you need not mastery every single skill imaginable, but gaining an understanding and practice are both extremely helpful.

  Schell then states that the most important skill to practice is 'listening' and that a game designer must listen to "Team, Audience, Game, Client and Self" because these are the things telling you how to proceed. Listening as a skill is more than 'surface listening', which Schell describes as "hearing what is said", and is more about 'deep listening', which Schell describes as "paying full attention".

  In order to listen in this manner Schell suggests you must "constantly ask yourself questions" about what it is you are listening to and  "approach everything as a child does, assuming nothing, observing everything"

  Schell finishes the chapter by talking about 'The Gifted', explaining that there is a difference between the "innate gift of a given skill" and the "major gift [that is] love of the work". Schell says that whilst you might have the natural ability to, say, design games, it is ultimately not going to get the best results without the passion behind it. He also states that the 'major gift' can allow a person to use and develop their limited skills, likely pushing those skills beyond those of someone with the 'minor gift' in those skills but no love for them.

For now, and for the rest of my game design career, I must constantly tell myself, "I am a game designer".