Before this class, I had a brief period where I played a game designer in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I built three games I’m so proud of with incredible teams from across Africa. I attended game jams, hackathons, conferences, and steeped myself in the gaming culture. But funnily enough, I didn’t really play a lot of games outside of the ones I was exposed to through the events. I thought of games as just another design challenge that I solved through design research.
While that still remains important and can get me most of the way, it wasn’t until this class that I started thinking about games more technically. Academic approaches to concepts like game design for friendships, accessibility, and loops and arcs expanded my vocabulary of game design. They made it easier for me to describe what I thought was missing from the games we were building in our team. It helped me articulate the things I wanted to get from any game I played or designed.
I also really appreciated the last reading we did on games of chance and the scam that is the random number generator. That exposed me to the unethical tactics that these systems have. I’ve been thinking deeply about the ethics of design lately and the responsibilities all designers should take on.
And of course, I absolutely loved working with my team. We all had such complementary skills that I felt like it was a dream team. It wasn’t smooth sailing all the way but that just helped me learn about how to work with teams that had very diverse work styles. Setting expectations from the beginning
The biggest challenge I faced was adhering to a realistic timeline. Having come from a startup and consulting background, where turnarounds were very fast, it made me uncomfortable to work with so much uncertainty. Our team was very talented and was incredibly good at delving deep into the details and achieving high-quality outcomes, but this came at the expense of sleep amongst other things. I deeply appreciated what I learned from each and every one of my team members, however. It has made me appreciate what a high quality team could bring to the table.
Moving forward, I am determined to continue working on the two games we created, as well as explore new game ideas with a tweaked approach. Here are the adjustments I plan to make:
1- I think I would start playtesting a lot earlier and a lot more
2- I would refer to my sketchnotes for some technical support!
3- I would reach out to my design team for their input because they know their shit!
Finally, I want to thank Christina and all the CAs for all their help. You supported us every step of the way. You forced us to practice and make the most out of our time and that was so wonderful.
