Hi everyone. I'm currently at crossroads in my game dev journey and could use some advice.

I have several game dev courses that I am going through to sharpen my skills before I start building my own game portfolio in search of a game designer job. I don't have a portfolio right now and I'm currently very busy with finding a job in IT Tech Support since I just got laid off and need a job to survive but I'm also working on my game design portfolio and skillset. The courses I have been taking are:

1. Udemy - GameDev.TV Unity 2D Game Dev 2018 (completed)
2. Udemy - GameDev.TV Unity 2D Game Dev 2021 (pending…)
3. Udemy - GameDev.TV Unity 3D Game Dev 2021 (pending…)
4. GD50 Intro to Game Dev by Harvard (work in progress…)
5. Full-Time Game Dev by Thomas Brush

I am currently working on GD50 Intro to Game Dev by Harvard. Hoping to pass and get the certification to help maximize landing a job in the gaming industry. I'm passionate about game design and video games. I also have a strong foundation in 3d art and programming in C# and C++. However, I'm not enjoying or fully understanding the course materials in GD50. The games you make are made with Lua language for Love2D and I find Lua to be one of the most confusing languages I ever learned. There's also no game engine which I find unconventional coming from Unity/Unreal Engine. It's also very fast-paced and doesn't explain the way I understand how the games are being made. I don't know if the fact it's just “Harvard” that suppose to make it special but I have been thinking of skipping it and just moving on to GameDev.TV Unity 2D/3D course which I find great and I understand the course materials, assignments/challenges, and C# programming. The same goes for GameDev.TV Unreal course. I love C++ and C#.

Should I continue with GD50 or skip it? How important is having a certification? I know that portfolio is #1 and most important. My dream job is to get a job as a game designer or go full indie with a small team (solo first).

The jobs I would look for are entry-level game designer, level designer, and qa tester.

@Tom Sloper Hi Tom, thanks for the feedback and reply. ?

Tom Sloper said:
Make a decision grid. Compare and weigh the pros and cons of continuing vs. dropping. You have to decide this yourself.

I think ultimately I'm going to skip it. It's just not worth it unless you're actually at Harvard in the classroom with the ability to work with other students and professors. I know there's Discord chat but it's not ideal. I'm just not getting the value from the course. It doesn't have the best learning path and it's too fast pace. I understand that you might end up working for a team and you will need to understand the code you're giving that the team has already built. I might try again if they update the course in the future. It's very programming focus rather than a game design focus. Harvard doesn't have a game design degree but they offer this for free which is nice. I think my decision is to skip it, I can always come back to it if they update it with new content. It's more important that I focus on my game portfolio and classes that help me.

Tom Sloper said:
Sounds like you're not going to have a degree. No degree but a certificate is better than no degree and no certificate.

I have a BA in Game Art & Design from R.I.T. A minor in communication and a concentration in computer hardware. I just haven't landed a job in the game industry because life happens. After I graduated from college, my dad got really sick with cancer and died, and then many bad things after that. I finally got my life back together 4 years later with a job in Cloud Support in the IT field. Now I just got laid off and have to find a new job. I'm also playing catch-up and building my portfolio. I also studied a lot of writing and optional game design classes. Lots of learning from online courses during my college years. Never stop learning.

Tom Sloper said:
And creds on some team projects.

I was just discussing this with a co-worker who also got laid off from my company. He is in the same boat as me. Ended up in IT but went to school for game design. We have plans to figure out how to make some time to do a game jam together to use for our portfolio. Maybe just a month-long project with only 3-4 weeks to complete with a deadline and add that to our portfolio. Otherwise, I will join game jams or try to find someone online to join me in making a small game.

Tom Sloper said:
If you live in Rochester, we could meet for lunch.

Ah, shame, I would totally be down to meet for lunch but I live in Cleveland, OH. I miss Rochester, it's a nice area. I would be up for a video call if you're interested. I'm also on LinkedIn if you have that.

Tom Sloper said:
Since you have a degree, the certificate is just a little more frosting on your already fully-frosted cake. Although I guess the certificate question is moot now.

I think I was a bit worried that my degree is too art focused as I did more 3d art stuff than programming but I did do a lot of game design studies. I can also get other game dev certificates in the future. I will just focus on making games right now.

Tom Sloper said:
Continued studies wouldn't hurt, but the thing is to make games now. Jams are okay but longer projects look better in the resume.

Yeah I agree, I got mixed feedback saying that game jams are great to do but I don't think they're great for the portfolio since game jams can be rushed due to very short time constraints. I will see if I can do a game project for one or two months with another person or two together. Ideally, a programmer and an artist/animator.

Tom Sloper said:
Gamedevmap shows just six game studios in Cleveland.

I should contact those companies and see if they have any job openings. I didn't think Ohio had any game studios nearby. The last time I checked on gamedevmap, we only had one or two studios in Cleveland.

Thanks for sharing!

Look at places outside the area, too. Since covid a tremendous number of companies are open to remote work.

frob said:

Look at places outside the area, too. Since covid a tremendous number of companies are open to remote work.

Thanks for sharing. Ideally, I'm willing to work remotely but I don't mind moving for a game company since I will care about my job more than some IT job. I'm also sick of Ohio, so I don't mind moving if that's needed.