Most commonly reported Work Activities

• Interacting With Computers Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Thinking Creatively Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems Analysing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Getting Information Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Documenting/Recording Information Entering, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Organising, Planning, and Prioritising Work Developing specific goals and plans to prioritise, organise, and accomplish your work.
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events Identifying information by categorising, estimating, recognising differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

The Work

When creating a new game, a Game System Designer will map out most of the ideas, concepts, and possibilities which could be experienced by a player.

A Level Designer selects a subset of these, and puts them together as a single piece of content called a “level”. Examples of levels include:

• A song in Guitar Hero
• A racetrack in Mario Kart
• A stage in Candy Crush

Each level will have its own difficulty, purpose, and a theme to tie the experience together. In many games, each level will also contribute to the story.

Sometimes a level can be so well-executed that it becomes famous for its artistry or cleverness!

The overall pacing of a game is decided by level designers. Often, the first few levels will introduce some ideas, which are then built upon and tested in later levels. A particularly difficult level might be followed by a more restful one so the player does not become exhausted.

These decisions help to improve the overall experience and keep players having fun.

Work tasks...

• Planning the total number of levels in a game, the intended difficulty curve, and the sequence in which to introduce ideas.
• Collaborating with narrative, audio, and game design teams to ensure their visions are upheld in each level.
• Designing the layout of 2D or 3D spaces for players to explore, often by using a level editor tool to create and mockup a playable environment.
• Iterating levels with players or QA testers to fine-tune the difficulty and ensure players do not get lost or stuck.

Most commonly reported Work Tasks

• Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
• Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
• Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
• Devise missions, challenges, or pussles to be encountered in game play.
• Guide design discussions between development teams.
• Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
• Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
• Present new game design concepts to management and technical colleagues, including artists, animators, and programmers.
• Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
• Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.

This occupation is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests:

Creative

Creative people are drawn to careers and activities that enable them to take responsibility for the design, layout or sensory impact of something (visual, auditory etc). They may be atrracted to the traditional artistic pursuits such as painting, sculpture, singing, or music. Or they may show more interest in design activities, such as architecture, animation, or craft areas, such as pottery and ceramics.

Creative people use their personal understanding of people and the world they live in to guide their work. Creative people like to work in unstructured workplaces, enjoy taking risks and prefer a minimum of routine.

Enterprising

Enterprising people like situations that involve using resources for personal or corporate economic gain. Such people may have an opportunistic frame of mind, and are drawn to commerce, trade and making deals. Some pursue sales and marketing occupations. Many will eventually end up owning their own business, or in management roles in larger organisations. They tend to be very goal-oriented and work best when focused on a target. Some have an entrepreneurial inclination.

Level design does not need any qualifications, but it does require a strong portfolio and being a good communicator.

To build a portfolio, there are hundreds of games which include level editor tools. These can be used to create levels, share them, and to demonstrate talent by building a community following.

Many talks are available online where experienced game level designers describe the techniques they use. Playing games and observing how levels are constructed is another way to upskill.

Developing communication skills is important, as a professional level designer must be able to work with people across disciplines, and deliver a great result despite working with a limited schedule, resources, and budget.

Further info...

• IntoGames — Level Designer

Last Updated: January, 2023

Salary Range (thousands per year)* €30k - €55k

Salries vary by employer, role, duties. location, experince. Salries can be sessional based on projects.

Data Source(s):
Blake & Filip/ Indeed/ payscale/ Prosperity.ie/ Morgan McKinley

Last Updated: July, 2024

* The lower figures typically reflect starting salaries. Higher salaries are awarded to those with greater experience and responsibility. Positions in Dublin sometimes command higher salaries.

View Salary information from Indeed.ie
Note: data not aways available

This information has been derived from the Solas National Skills Bulletin (2023).

The negative average annual employment growth rate over the five-year period for this occupation is partly related to changes in the LFS in 2017; however, employment has declined annually since 2020. Those employed were primarily male, working full-time and held third-level qualifications. The share of non-Irish citizens employed far exceeded the national average (41% compared to 19% nationally).

Despite the decline in employment, over 3,500 new employment permits were issued in 2022 across a range of roles including IT analysts/engineers (cloud, security, systems, network, test), There was a high volume of mentions in the Recruitment Agency Survey for network/security and site reliability engineers while vacancies for software testers were cited as difficult to fill by employers in the Skills for Growth data, particularly for those with cybersecurity, cloud computing and HTML skills. The number of online job adverts declined by 12% in 2022, predominantly due to the fall in postings for systems analysts which alone accounted for nearly half the total decline in ICT job postings in 2022.

Despite falling employment numbers, strong demand remains evident across the indicators in key areas such as network/cloud and security engineering. The move to remote working since the onset of the pandemic, along with the war in Ukraine, have increased the prevalence of cybersecurity threats39 with demand for these skills likely to persist. The fall in online vacancy advertisements indicates a slowing in demand but shortages remain, at least in the short-term.

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