I sometimes ponder possible changes in career. I’m always an aspiring sci-fi/fantasy writer (sometimes I wonder who ISN’T an aspiring writer!), and I’ve also had an ongoing strong interest in CHI (Computer Human Interaction) which studies how people use and interact with technology.

Something I’ve been thinking about in the last few days after a gaming session with friends: game design. I wonder if I’d enjoy it and if I’d be good at it. This is the field of designing a board game, video game, card game, etc. Coming up with a theme, developing rules, etc. It touches on many things I find interesting: many games have historical and fantasy references (love the medieval/fantasy/sci-fi genre), I love games of all kinds, especially those that make you think, I enjoy studying logic systems, human interaction with ‘things’, and understanding the core principles behind something.

In game design, much like in becoming a good author, you need to understand underlying principles of balance, combinining risk with luck and strategy, etc. and then apply those to a new game with a new theme. Plus, there’s the creativity involved in creating a new ‘gimmick’ that makes the game unique. Parts of game design go back to computer science related logic: games and puzzles have very much to do with logic, psychology, etc. Games must have clear rules that cover all options. Users must be able to visualize their options intuitively from what they are given (akin to ‘affordance’ in CHI).

I dunno…nothing may come of it. But it does interest me. I’ll dig around a bit on the net and see if I find anything out about designing games.

And of course, there’s the obvious: who wouldn’t love sitting around all day designing games then playtesting them??