Panel
Paul Stephanouk - Design Director of Candy Crush. Previously EA, Zynga, Bossfight, Schell Games, Big Huge Games. 20 years experience building and running creative teams.
Kelly Tran - Co-founder and Game Designer at Evolved Play. Previously, Game Design Professor researching games and players at High Point University. PhD in learning and tech. Solo Twitch - Group Twitch - Website
Xelnath - Game Designer World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Snackpass Tochi. Founder Game Design Skill.
Ian Schreiber - Senior Game Designer Oxide Games, previously Assistant Professor Rochester Institute of Technology.
Dan Felder - Lead Game Designer Riot Games. Previously Abrakam, Blizzard, EA.
Brandon Dolinski - Level Designer Eidos Montreal. Previously Mass Effect Andromeda and Dragon Age.
Christopher Ory - Lead Designer Rec Room. Previously PerBlue, Ignited Artists, EA Maxis, The Playforge.
Michael Austin - Chief Creative Officer and CTO at Hidden Path Entertainment. Previously, Xbox Advanced Technology Group
Mohamed Abdel Khalik - Co-Founder and Game Director on Tut at Karnak Studios. Consultant on Nightscape at Mezan Studios.
Notes
Try and demonstrate thinking.
People get caught up on “this isn’t totally finished.”
Show how you solve problems and think things through.
Talking about why things failed.
Demonstrate value.
Show off process and documents.
Show off best skills in the CV.
This is my best work at my current skill level (remove old projects).
Your portfolio is not your CV.
You don’t want to explain that your work isn’t as bad as it looks.
Don’t show engine tests.
Convince hiring manager that you’re a low risk hire.
Show them that you can do the work that they’re trying to do.
Portfolios are a tool for that.
Portfolios are a design problem.
Audience is hiring manager, you want them to think or feel something about you and your portfolio is a tool in that arsenal and not a checkbox.
Make your resume REALLY stand out.
Hiring managers discount team projects if there is more than one designer as it makes it difficult to find out who did what?
Modders are great.
Showcase strong attention to detail in your designs.
Show the moments of delight you create for players.
Interview twice a year. It keeps your skills up and reminds you of your value in the market. You get to see updated company hiring practices and you might get a better job offer.
Powerpoint + Video of the project rather than the game.
Look at credits for games of studios you want to work for or similar to. Find the names and see what their portfolios look like and learn from them.
Go into every interview as a learning experience.
Learn to optimize for AI routines + human routines to get to the interview stage.
Imagine the person reading the application is tired, cold and the time is 5am and they’re on a bus.
Don’t show specific dates, just use years.
Keep it focused and make it easy to read.
Keep the good stuff above the fold (top half).
Curate stuff to fit all in one page for a resume.
It’s ok to customize it for a specific job.
Don’t praise prior work. It’s awkward and they will dive in deep. You play on their turf.
What do you like about the game and what would you change?
Have an engaging dialogue with insightful questions about the company and the role.
Game Designer role isn’t about right answers but asking right questions. It makes the applicant stand out.
Ambitions for the game?
Biggest challenges the team is facing on project?
Issues the studios facing the most?
How to get promoted and payrise?
Interviews are a turn based game favoring the interviewee as the interviewer has to go first and each question betrays information about the company. There’s a reason they asked this question so you need to decode WHY they’re asking that.
Oh “is this what you mean?”
Interviews filter out bad people rather than find good people
Many personality types in games industry that are destructive.
Who do you look up to? is a good way to filter that out.
If project gets cancelled over years sit with supervisor and see what you can show without breaking NDA.
Talk with different hats if you worked in different roles and display competency in each of the domains individually without “I did all this.”
Focus on what you applied for.
Show turnkey video with talking over it observation on what you did and add link too but don’t link to game without video.
Describe your career in terms of the careers of others they’ve amplified.
Answer in stories and not in facts
No one cares that bounce number went from 1 to 1.5.
Some people care about the numbers.
By slowing it down it feels better for players.
Never speak negatively about people or projects.
Focus on how you overcame the challenge and how it impacted you instead of venting about the politics of the situation.
Saying there was an issue that you walked away from is perfectly fine.
Avoid “I wanna grab drinks after work” culture.
Toxic or political by nature.
Avoid just wanting to point flaws in design.
Finding another way NOT to make a light bulb.
Point out what you love and show them where the landmines are and help them sidestep them is much better.
Goal stack in interviews.
Series of goals.
Priority to hit them.