I often get requests for asipring designers for examples of game design documentation. While there are some shown in Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, there are many many more than I have created over the years. I have decided to post several of my game designs. Hopefully they will inspire and (or at least) amuse you. But rather than start with a design from a completed game, I'll start with one that got me a job instead.
A design test is where a team asks a designer to create an example of gameplay based on a set of criteria. There is usually a descriptive portion and a "draw what you mean" portion of the design test.
This test was from 2003 when Sony Santa Monica was interviewing me for a designer position on a little game called "God of War." They were looking for someone who could create boss fights and this is what I came up with: "Occulus, the sewer horror!" You can see why they hired me as it bears resemblance to a certain multi-headed boss I later designed for the game! Sometimes things are meant to be!
Out of curiosity, do you remember any of the criteria they asked for?
ReplyDeleteDrat! I knew someone was going to ask this... While I don't remember the specifics, they wanted to see a boss fight for an action game and I think tentacles were mentioned. Sorry, but my memory is hazy after that.
ReplyDeleteThe next post will be a design test I created for Maximo - so at least it will give you an idea on what to ask.