Design Tests - What to Expect

Here's a little piece on design tests I wrote for another blog, but I thought I'd repost it here:

Game Design is in the unfortunate situation of being one of those intangible disciplines, particularly to outsiders. A typical conversation with Muggles tends to go along the lines of:

“So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a Game Designer.”
“Oh so you make all the art?”
“No”
“Oh so you do the programming?”
“Not quite”
“So you just play games all day then?”
*Sigh*

The biggest problem is that design isn’t a clearly defined role across all studios – every team is slightly different. Which makes the job of hiring someone difficult, whilst a candidate might show good promise in their creative ideas, they may lack the technical understanding required to make those ideas reality. The other issue is that people’s perception of what a design portfolio might look like are vastly different, in fact many designers don’t even have a portfolio.

So how do you determine a good candidate from the heap of CVs / Resumes that lie before you? Well many studios will set you a design test. These tests can vary greatly in form depending on the studio, I’ve seen everything from a simple questionnaire about games and game design, creating a level layout on paper, to a full-on create a level using a specific editor (a little excessive in my opinion).  Unfortunately I’m not going to present you with specific tests from companies, as many of them are time limited, and by getting this information ahead of time you are gaining a competitive advantage. No, I’m not going to do your homework for you! However, in most cases there are some common threads that you might find throughout and there are certain things that employers are looking for.

Creative Thinking

Of course a designer needs to be able to think creatively. A good design test will give you a fairly limited brief, detailing exactly what they expect you to show. Designing within constraints is actually a vital part of design – in fact without constraints design is often a complete mess. So read the wording of the test carefully – make sure your ideas cover everything specified in the brief.

However, don’t always be completely limited by the brief. If there is a slightly crazy idea you have, then feel free to explore it, but also be prepared to justify it, or flag it as something that might cause issues.

Be original. That’s not to the point of making something completely innovative, but don’t just copy something you’ve seen in another game. Believe me, your prospective employers will see through that one in a second.

Be inspiring. When you’re putting your ideas on paper, then you really want them to show you at your creative best. Do something extraordinary. Get yourself noticed.

Mechanics Design Ability

Often a test will ask you to break down a mechanic or design a new mechanic from scratch. This is where technical ability starts to show through. There are several things that your employer could be looking for here:

• Ability to analyze a game 
• Ability to reverse engineer an existing mechanic 
• Ability to come up with complimentary mechanics or to refine existing ones 
• Ability to clearly communicate information with a team

Mechanics tests generally take the form of written documents (it would be pretty hard to ask you to create a working example). A good rule of thumb when writing mechanics documents is to use as many diagrams, flow charts or other visual aids as you can. Also don’t write reams of paragraphs, use bullet-points to keep information salient.

Level Design Ability

Level Design is often a more elaborate process than a mechanics design test, as it will generally require you to sketch out a scenario, often in 3D.

If you are asked to create a 3D mockup, I suggest you use Sketchup to allow yourself to quickly build the geometry (unless you are extremely skilled in a more elaborate 3D package). You might be asked to build something using a specific editor such as Unreal. This can be very time consuming, so make sure you are ready and willing to undertake such a test if you are asked to do so. I know that a lot of time consuming tests tend to put more senior designers off applying to studios, so it tends to be the studios with more prestige that enforce these kinds of test.

Otherwise, your test is likely to take the form of a document, complete with sketches to show the flow through the level. Even if you do a 3D model of your level, I’d suggest also creating an accompanying document, as it is much easier to express your ideas fully that way. But again, keep it fairly brief – use bullet-points.

Employers will be looking for a range of skills:

• Ability to create interesting scenarios 
• Flow through the level 
• Interesting vistas, story moments, etc 
• Understanding of space and suitability to mechanics of the game

Time Management

If a studio imposes a time limit on their design test, you can ensure they are looking for how well you can manage your time – the shorter this time period, the more this becomes a factor.

My advice in this scenario is to be extremely organized. Break down your time into chunks of what you need to do to complete the test. Spend the allotted period doing what you have specified, then don’t overrun that time. If you get finished early then you can go back over what you have done and make improvements, but if you run out of time then it is not going to look great for your final test.

Communication & Willingness to Collaborate

Generally if you’ve done a good enough job on the test, your prospective employer will invite you in, or contact you to engage in a dialog about the test. This is a chance to see how well you can communicate your ideas, but there is also another agenda at play here. Your employer will also be looking to see how attached you are to your ideas, and whether you become precious about your work.

Teams need to collaborate to get the job done, if you are clinging doggedly to an idea, then that throws warning signs up in their minds. However, you can also be too agreeable. If you bend on every single decision, then it might show that you are too willing to change based on external pressures, or you do not have enough confidence in your own ideas. Pick your battles in this instance, explain which aspects of the design you really like, and those that you feel need further attention.

Conclusion

Tests can be pretty brutal, and a lot of established designers refuse to do them, as they feel that their experience should speak for itself. I think it depends on the candidate and the studio. With my experience, I wouldn’t expect to go to a general studio and get a huge week long test. However, when I applied to Naughty Dog I fully expected to get a fairly tough one (and did). If you’re new to the industry you really have to prove yourself, so even the lowliest studio may end up testing you. Really it is up to you, if you feel the ends justify the means then go for it, but don’t fall into the trap of doing it half-heartedly – I’ve seen those kind of applicants before, and they get weeded out in seconds.

If you’ve been sent a test by a studio, good luck. If you nail the test you’re usually going to get the job (unless you turn up with a bloodied axe and a terrifying grin of course…)