A: For this question, we asked our good friend Dave Chalker to give us some answers on this. Please absolutely click that link to read more about him, his blog, and his many works and published games.

Game designers come from a number of fields, though I’ve found depending on their style they tend to cluster around one of three areas: graphic design, writing, and computer programming. No matter what, it’s important to get experience in a lot of different areas, since game design combines all of the above in some way, plus often elements of marketing, web design, and much more. Game designers no matter what have to wear a bunch of hats. It’s up to you which of those you decide to focus on.

Several schools are starting game design programs, including the University of Baltimore where I went to grad school. You can also look at interdisciplinary programs that let you customize your own major, which is what I did for undergrad.

I got my first foot in the door in the industry by being an intern at Looney Labs many years ago, and while they don’t have that program anymore, it’s the kind of thing you just have to look for by following companies you would like to contribute to. If you’re looking to freelance, this also means showing up at conventions, scouring sites for companies that are looking for submissions, that kind of thing. Conventions are very important for looking for opportunities, working on your own games with people who can give you good feedback, and just in general networking. Events like Unpub hit a lot of those at once. The important bit is to keep doing it, and keep an eye out for opportunities

Getting a job in the game design world is harder. There are a lot more freelancers (like me) that have other day jobs, and work in our spare time on games. Eventually, that can lead to more paying work. I know of multiple companies (like Wizards of the Coast and Fantasy Flight Games) that have entry level jobs, which then can lead to bigger opportunities. Going straight into game design is difficult though, and can take years of working freelance and on your own projects before it leads to an actual full-time job.

I highly recommend learning about a number of different areas if you can. While game design can be very tough to break into, you can still pick up other skills useful to game design/publishing that employers not in the game business desire. As mentioned above, picking up elements of graphic design, writing, and technology can all help for other jobs, and then you get practice with those skills while you wait for your “big break” into the game biz.