A while ago, I talked about the specific project that got me my first job in the games industry. But before any of that happened—before I ever worked on a team or got hired—there was a prelude. There was a time when I didn't even realize game design was an actual career, let alone that it would become my life's work.
Today, I want to take a look back at the games, the tools, and the media that set me down this path. If you are curious about what sparks a career in game design, here is the personal journey of how I went from playing hand-me-downs to designing games professionally.
The Early Years: Hand-Me-Downs and High-Score Memories
Growing up, I was the youngest of seven siblings. Apart from one of my brothers, practically no one in my house cared about computers or video games. My dad would occasionally play Tetris on flights, but that was about the extent of it.
Almost everything I played came from my brother’s hand-me-downs. I have early memories of trying to play an emulated version of Sonic the Hedgehog on the shared family computer, desperately trying to jump over the end-of-level signpost just to see what would happen—only for my brother to reach over, press the arrow keys, and finish the level for me.
Later came the PS2 EyeToy, playing Super Mario World on the SNES at my grandma’s house, and playing Super Mario Strikers on the GameCube. For a long time, though, I fell into the typical routine of most kids my age: I almost exclusively played FIFA and Call of Duty. I loved them, but I viewed games purely as entertainment, never as something someone intentionally architected.
Portal 2: The First Game I Ever Finished
When The Orange Box came out, I tried playing Portal, but I was probably too young or too impatient to wrap my head around its puzzles. Yet when Portal 2 released on the Xbox 360, I bought a copy on a whim.
Playing Portal 2 was a revelation. The narrative delivery, Stephen Merchant’s performance, the environmental pacing, and the accessibility of its onboarding completely drew me in. It was the first video game I ever completed in my entire life.
Up until that moment, the concept of "beating" a game felt foreign. I had only ever played open-ended sports titles or multiplayer shooters. Rolling the credits on Portal 2 planted a permanent seed in my brain about structure, storytelling, and puzzle design.
Halo Reach: Discovering Level Design by Accident
The real turning point for hands-on creation came with Halo Reach. While I loved the multiplayer—especially the Infected mode—I ended up spending an order of magnitude more time in Forge mode than anywhere else.
I started by building floating racetracks, but soon moved on to building custom multiplayer maps for my school friends. That was my unintentional masterclass in level design:
- Player Flow: I noticed that if I put high ground in the center of a map, players naturally fought for control of it.
- Resource Placement: Placing power weapons in exposed corners forced players to weigh risk against reward before engaging in combat.
- Playtesting: Seeing my friends have genuine fun on something I built gave me a level of satisfaction I had never felt before.
I didn't have the vocabulary for design principles back then, but Forge mode was teaching me how geometry directly influences player behavior.
PC Gaming and the Portal 2 Level Editor
Eventually, my friends moved toward PC gaming to play Minecraft, which led to me begging for a laptop. I ended up with a budget Packard Bell machine that could barely run anything, but it opened the door to Steam.
When I finally got a desktop that could run Portal 2 on PC—even at a choppy 15 frames per second—I discovered the built-in level editor. Just like with Halo Reach, I fell in love with creating test chambers and waiting eagerly on Skype for my friends to log on and test my puzzles. Building fun for other people had officially become a habit.
The Catalyst: 'Indie Game: The Movie'
Around 2015 or 2016, right as I was starting college, I stumbled across Indie Game: The Movie on Netflix. If there is a single piece of media responsible for my career path, this is it.
Before watching that documentary, I planned on going into accounting. I was good at math, it paid well, and it felt safe. But watching developers like Edmund McMillen and Jonathan Blow completely changed my worldview. In particular, hearing Edmund explain how he designed levels in Super Meat Boy made me realize that "game design" was distinct from pure programming or pure art.
A game designer is the person who decides how a game functions, feels, and teaches. That realization hit me like lightning. I immediately pivoted my studies away from finance toward computing and game development.
Hollow Knight: Learning to See the Seams
As I started taking development seriously, Hollow Knight arrived and fundamentally changed how I consumed games. Up until then, I had never played a Metroidvania.
Hollow Knight made game design visible to me. Metroidvanias wear their design on their sleeves: you see a ledge you can't reach, you acquire an ability later, and you return with a sense of mastery. It taught me how gating, exploration, and combat pacing work together.
It was also a massive commitment. Spending 40 hours to complete a demanding game broke through my old habits. It built my gaming literacy, inspiring me to dive deep into titles like The Witness, Celeste, and The Witcher 3, analyzing what made each tick.
Key Takeaways for Aspiring Game Designers
Looking back at how I got here, I often share a few core pieces of advice with my own game design students:
1. Test If You Actually Like the Craft
Many people love playing games, but designing them is an entirely different discipline. Jump into a level editor—whether it's in Halo, Portal 2, Super Mario Maker, or a modern engine like Godot or Unity. Do you enjoy the iteration, the problem-solving, and the feedback? If creating something gives you energy, you are on the right path.
2. Watch 'Indie Game: The Movie'
If you haven't seen it, find a way to watch it. It offers an honest, unfiltered look at the passion, hardship, and reality of creating games independently.
3. Broaden Your Horizons
Don't just stick to one genre or platform. Play indie demos during Steam Next Fest, try classic puzzle games, play walking simulators, and pick up titles outside your comfort zone. The wider your design vocabulary, the better your ideas will be when you sit down to create.
When the passion for game development hits, you will know it. It takes dedication and patience, but turning that early curiosity into a career is one of the most rewarding journeys you can take.
Watch the original video on YouTube
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