What is your typical day@work like? Could you explain the whole process of game development

I work for a video game development company, which works on high budget gigantic games, also known as "AAA titles", targeted at reaching the masses. A game designer is an essential piece of a giant puzzle called game development, apart from developers and artists. Designers conceptualize the game mechanics, which will be converted to player experience by software developers and enhanced by artists. Let's take the case of a simple "car race" game. A designer would set the ball rolling by specifying an underlying story as to why you need to win the race, things like the number of cars, controls the player can have, difficulty level, routes, etc., and all this will be properly documented in a design paper. A developer would them build a basic prototype of the game with these inputs. An artist would them come in to give the game life by enhancing the visuals, giving colour to the cars, routes, etc., making the game believable, but not necessarily realistic. At the end of the day, people play games to unwind and take a break from "reality", so they don't really want more of the same!

As unlikely as it may sound, let's say you get bored with your job, is it possible to change (or pivot) your careers easily?

Bored of gaming! That's not possible, right? Well, let's say it happens… The world is moving towards "gamification" right from learning to banking. Companies need game designers as games are means of engaging with consumers and games are just a medium. If you have been a game developer, then you can pursue a career in the ocean called software development. If you been in the arts domain, you can explore a career in advertising, films, graphic design, etc.

What's your advice to students who wish to take up game design?

The gaming industry is a very structured and professional setup these days, offering plenty of opportunities! The first step of the process should be to identify what kind of games you wish to create (and it typically is the category of games you like to play like Simulations/ Adventure/ Real-Time Strategy (RTS)/ Puzzle/ Action/ Combat, etc.). Then experiment with modifications (or "mods" as they are called) of the games you like to play. Share the modifications with your friends and family to solicit feedback from them to improve the experience. In the process, also do try and figure out which aspect of game development you like - design or programming or arts. Playing and creating board games or card games is another way you can find out if you indeed want to pursue this as a career. If you are certain this interests you, attend a university which offers a degree in game development.