How to turn your love for games into an actual career

academy game designer 01 - How to turn your love for games into an actual career

Make your fantasies a virtual reality by becoming a game designer!

Do you enjoy playing video games or coding? Does the idea of creating and designing your own virtual world excite you? If so, we can help you become a game designer!

A game designer designs entire worlds. He determines the characters and the rules of the game. Therefore, he needs a great imagination and has to be able to visualize what is in his own head.

The world of games is becoming more and more realistic. Nowadays has become really difficult to tell the difference between a game and a movie. Accordingly, there has been an increase in the user expectations as regards the artistic representations of these worlds, making game designers and those involved in the digital development of the game feel under pressure.

Skills of a Game Designer – Start to develop and improve them at a young age!

In order to create a new world and to invent a history, a game designer must first have an idea in mind. The story, based on this idea, develops gradually. The visualization of the ideas plays a very important role because it greatly affects the further evolution of the game.

A game designer must draw and paint.  When portraying landscapes, environments, objects, and characters realistically, you must have knowledge about proportions, shapes, light, and shadow, tonality and composition. You need to know how a picture works and how you can visually get the player where you want him to be.

Study Game Design

The Game Design field offers a variety of courses such as game´s physics, artificial intelligence or the creation of 3D worlds in real-time as well as marketing and legal and ethical issues in animations & games. The drawing and painting skills, as well as creativity, are preconditions. During the course of studies, students will specialize in graphics, 3D and programming skills.

We have a list of all the places where you can study Game Design:

Games Academy Berlin / Frankfurt, University of Applied Sciences Trier, Intermediales Design, Media Campus Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Mediadesign University of Applied Sciences, School of Games Berlin, Game Design MD.H – Mediadesign University, Game Design HTW – University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Visual FX & 3D Animation SAE Institute, Animation & Game Hochschule Darmstadt, Computer Science: Games Engineering TUM – TU Munich, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Games + Animation in Hollywood.

Job as a game designer

A student with a game design degree can find employment in many places, for example, Video games developing companies (also known as video game developers, publishers or studios) or even marketing companies. After graduation, it is also possible to work as a freelance and develop your own games.

Game designers are creators of a computer game, who are responsible for the development, planning, and execution of it. There are almost no limits to imagination. The important thing is that the game sells well and suits the trend. That’s why game designers need to keep a close eye on the market and know which genres are currently popular and what similar games already exist.

What starts on your computer can actually become an international career in the game design industry like the well-known game designers Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon), Erik Simon (Anno 1701, ParaWorld), Markus Persson (Minecraft) , Roberta Williams (King’s Quest, Time Zone), Volker Wertich (The Settlers, SpellForce, BattleForge).

Your successful start in the Game Design education or course of study is work samples.

Most universities require work samples, along with the application, with which they´ll evaluate whether you are suitable for studying there or not. This usually includes an idea of the game, a game produced by yourself (on PC, Mac or online) and possibly some sketches or drawings of your game ideas and characters.

The Academy of Fine Art Germany can help you start your career, so start now!

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