Are You Wired To Be A Game Dev?

There's been so many times in the past 10 years of making games that I've wondered if I was actually cut out. Like, is it in my DNA? Am I made to be a game developer? I've kind of thought about this this morning. And I want to give you three ways that maybe you could know for certain that you're supposed to be a game developer. Where's my intro? Come on. Intro. Play. Where's the intro? All right, guys. My name is Thomas Brush [music] and I have been making games for 10 years. I made a game called Pinstripe. I also made a game called Once Upon a Com. I'm working from this creepy basement here because me and my wife are actually building a home. So, I have to sort of find a place to work and this is actually my parents' basement. And I want to tell you three ways that you can know that you're probably supposed to be a game developer. It's really hard to know, right? Um, especially if you've released games before and they kind of fizzled. They didn't really do great. You're like, "Well, I guess I'm not supposed to do

this, right?" Well, it's not really about the performance of your games because frankly, every successful game developer out there has probably had 10 games that really sucked. I don't know. Um, I actually heard that Ed Edmund McMillan, who's a very successful game developer, um, spent years trying to get his work to get noticed. So, it's really not about the reception of your work. that's really not what determines whether you're supposed to be a game developer or not. So, I think it's more about your personality, right? What goes through your head, what goes through your heart, what makes you feel something, what makes you passionate and emotional. Um, the first way you know that you're probably supposed to be a game developer is frankly you're obsessed, right? You can't stop thinking about games. Now, excuse me. What I what I mean here is it's not really that you're constantly thinking about game mechanics, even though that could be a great sign that you're supposed to be a game designer. Um, but I would say it's

more about the constant obsession with creating worlds. By worlds, I mean landscapes, um, new dimensions, new characters, um, how they feel, uh, story lines, um, the the list goes on and on. It's basically playing God. Do you find yourself in your head unable to control this almost hurricane of ideas? And I think a lot of you who are probably watching this video, the fact that you even searched for something like this on YouTube or are subscribed to this channel probably means that you're curious about that yourself. Why am I constantly thinking about all these crazy weird ideas? And what's interesting is that when you bring these ideas forward and you tell them to like friends or family or something, they might kind of give you a glazed overlook like what's your problem? Like why why are you why are you thinking of this stuff? Why does this even matter? And I think what for me um I'm I'm a bit of a spiritual person. I think that we're

supposed to be creative and we're supposed to create worlds. And there are some of us who are who are sort of have a predisposition to want to play God in that way. So, do you play God? Are you constantly thinking in your head of ways um or world uh ways to create worlds, new characters, settings? Um it's really a good way to know if you're supposed to be a game developer. Okay. The second way is actually when you were a kid, the second way to know if you're a game developer is when you were a kid, did you did you find yourself um making a game out of everything? I know for me that in the notes of my paper, like in the margins of my notes at school, I would be drawing mazes and and creating little puzzles. And um me and my brothers when we'd go on vacation, like maybe a five or six hour car ride, we'd actually create little uh systems where we'd have to make a ball. Like it's it's all on paper, right? It's all drawn on

paper, but we'd make a have systems where a ball would bounce and and go through all these different things, loops, and then get to a finish line, and we'd let the other person look at it and try and figure out how it would work. We were creating systems and [music] and functions and games all the time. Or here's a more embarrassing one. Do you find yourself when you were a kid going and just playing by yourself in the woods, making up things using your imagination um [music] in almost an embarrassing way? I know for me, I used to run through the woods and pretend I was a I especially remember this once one time when we had a big snowstorm and um I pretended that I was a World War II soldier um during uh what was it? Battle of the Bulge, right? or I would also play Indians all by myself. It was just a a strange trait that I had. And I'm pretty sure probably um many of you watching this channel feel that way as well. If you if you feel that way and you kind of maybe even still do that,

that's okay. It's embarrassing, but that's okay. I would say that you're probably meant to make games. you should probably harvest that energy into creating worlds um and creating games um for Steam and Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation and all the various platforms available. So, that's the second way to know. Now, the third way to know is that you feel power when you create worlds. And this might be a kind of a strange concept, but just go with me for just a second. I know for me that when I make a game, it's not just fun. That's not really what I'm excited about. What I really like to do or experience, excuse me, is I like to experience that feel, that sensation of power. It's a sensation of strength and identity. So, it's a feeling that you actually are part of something bigger than yourself or you're actually building meaning. You're pushing meaning out of your own hands. And that's just a crazy idea. I think most um people in

the world probably expect meaning to fall into their own lap. [music] So for example, parents should tell their kids what meaning they should find in their life, which that's good, right? But there's a point where you need to find your own meaning or you expect your boss to tell you what to do, how to think, how worthy you are, what um what is your value, what is your place in this world or your teachers. But the truth is is I think that game developers, game designers, and especially indie game designers, and that is people who have work in a small team, who who have a hand in a ton of aspects of creating this world, they feel power. They feel a sensation of meaning, putting meaning onto paper or onto a screen. Um, and it's all coming out of their own head, right? And I know it sounds a little pretentious and maybe a little self-centered and maybe narcissistic for me to say this, but I do feel like I'm able to push meaning out um [music] out of my own mind and put it into a screen

and uh and also into the hands of of of gamers across the world. That's really what I'm after. I'm after that sensation of power um and creativity. I think creativity is almost equivalent to power. It's the feeling that you can create something um that no one else can create. And that is a feeling of power. And I think it's a good feeling. I think again I think human beings are supposed to pursue that feeling of power a little bit. Obviously, it's not a bad or negative power. It's a good power. It's that feeling and sensation of knowing that you can create meaning out of nothing. So those are my three ways to know that you're probably cut out to be a game designer. So take take a moment right now and just think about these. Do I do am I obsessed about games? Um, do I do I maybe lull myself to sleep at night or lay awake at night thinking about new worlds, new ideas? Do I feel a sensation of power and meaning when I create things? Um, these are really good ways to know if you're a game developer. So,

reflect on this. Um, [music] and maybe let me know in the comments if you feel these things. I I have a feeling that a lot of us probably on this channel feel this way. So, again, my name is Thomas Brush. I make games. I love it. It's the best job on earth. If you like what you see, if you want to see daily game development videos, um, hit the subscribe button below. Um, and also comment. And if you really want to support me and my channel, head on over to Patreon. And I'll give you a little shout out if you support at the $5 level in my next video or my next live stream. I live stream every day. Thank you, Vitus, Erica, Lethal Honor, Paul, Nate, and Mando. You guys are awesome. Um, everybody have a good day. Thanks for watching.