You know how some people seem to be absolutely amazing at one thing in particular? They can wipe the floor with you in foosball or complete every Sudoku puzzle you put in front of them or cook like a five-star chef. Well, I’m not one of those people.
Those people are well-lopsided, and all my life, I’ve been well-rounded. In other words, I’m good at a lot of things but not great at any one thing. I’m a decent writer, good at math, enjoy puzzles, win board games every so often, and am getting better at Street Fighter.
Though there are days when I wish I could just focus on one dominant strength, most days, particularly in game design, I’m quite thankful for my well-roundedness.
The title ‘game designer’ encompasses a wide array of skills and tasks. Sure game designers work on designing game concepts and mechanics, but they must also possess the communication skills to express their ideas, the scripting savvy to throw together quick prototypes, and knowledge of basic visual design principles.
In the past few weeks, shoulder-deep in brainstorming sessions and preproduction document writing marathons with my final game team, I’ve capitalized on my well-roundedness as much as possible. My left brain has been tasked with creating working prototypes, and my right brain is busy designing a cohesive and memorable visual experience for our game.
I guess I’ll never be truly well-lopsided. But when there’s so much to learn, so much to do, and so much fun to be had in game design, I’m quite happy to be well-rounded.