Senior Game Designer

The Senior Game Designer determines the structure of a game, how it will be played, its rules, objectives, logic and systems and game features. He/She communicates these game elements to various production teams and provides the direction needed to deliver the intended player experience. He conceives the game's overall user experience and interaction scenarios to design user journeys as well as engaging user interfaces. In addition, he is responsible for training game testers to play the game, making sure that the game elements are balanced and that they understand what is expected of the finished product. The work involves leading a team to deliver creative outcomes in a high pressure project environment as well as aligning expectations and outcomes with multiple teams. He spends most of his time in creative ideation and providing guidance to his team and also has to attend meetings with other teams regularly. He has a passion for games. He is a creative thinker and an effective problem-solver with an eye for detail. He is an able multitasker and proficient in collaborating with multiple teams concurrently. He is also expected to be strong at communicating and negotiating to be able to deliver his responsibilities effectively.

Skills and Competencies

Technical Skills & Competencies

Game Concept Design
Proficiency Level
"Develop detailed concepts for key game elements and create the game concept documents."
3
Game Technical Design
Proficiency Level
"Detail specifications of technical requirements in each aspect of the technical design process. "
2
Gameplay Design
Proficiency Level
"Design core game mechanics, gameplay sequences and other elements of gameplay to aid game development."
3
Level Design
Proficiency Level
"Design maps, environments and gameplay sequences for specific missions, levels, quests or challenges within the game."
3
Narrative Design
Proficiency Level
Construct specific narrative elements towards the development of the overall content narratives.
3

Generic Skills & Competencies

Creative Thinking
Proficiency Level
Create original applications or ideas to reveal new possibilities and reshape goals through high level of innovativeness.
Advanced
Problem Solving
Proficiency Level
Identify less perceivable problems and use problem solving tools and techniques to solve the problems.
Intermediate
Teamwork
Proficiency Level
Facilitate work team activities, provide assistance and support needed by team members and promote ownership and commitment among team members to work goals to improve team performance.
Intermediate
Communication
Proficiency Level
"Negotiate with others to address issues and achieve mutual consensus."
Advanced
Decision Making
Proficiency Level
Make decision in a complex setting to achieve intended goals using a structured process and multiple sources of available information.
Intermediate

Critical Work Functions and Key Tasks

Initiate game design

• Lead discussions on specific aspects of the game concept design 
• Define the broad user experience as part of the game concept 
• Detail specific aspects of the game concept to be presented to the creative leadership 
• Document specific aspects of the game concept for the concept document to be presented to the leadership for approval

Execute game design

• Conceive the game’s gameplay, core mechanics and systems based on the concept and creative vision of leadership team 
• Guide the team in the creation, analysis and improvement of new game features, virtual economy and balance of game mechanics 
• Conceive game users' experience by charting the user journey with sketches, conceptual diagrams and wireframes 
• Create designs for the game's user interface and interaction scenarios based on the user experience and creative vision of the game 
• Manage the balance of games with consideration for entertainment, challenge, monetisation and engagement 
• Create the full game design document to clearly define all aspects of the game that impact the game mechanics and gameplay
• Refine designs based on feedback from game testers, the quality assurance team and other relevant stakeholders
• Provide insights to anticipate technical and/or workflow issues and recommend solutions

Facilitate game development

• Guide technical development teams in interpreting game designs 
• Develop prototypes to aid game development by collaborating with technical development teams 
• Conduct training for game testers to understand the final objectives of the game 
• Provide inputs to the development of the game content, graphics, sound, as well as other technical components 
• Recommend adjustments to the original specifications to reflect technical constraints and new programming or artistic developments 
from the team
• Participate in ongoing critical reviews of games in production 
• Track game feedback to understand and plan for upcoming game design changes in order to support both development and update 
cycles
• Develop use cases to resolve design roadblocks for development

Manage projects

• Support projects to meet schedules, budget, manpower and technical quality targets 
• Assist the design, art and technical teams continuously to define requirements and iteratively build solutions 
• Assist users, technical staff and management to determine and resolve issues associated with project implementation 
• Support regular project reviews to recommend schedule changes, cost or resource adjustments

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