System design is one of the only disciplines in game development that can quietly kill a game… without anyone realizing what’s happening.

I’ve seen it happen even at the highest levels in the industry, working on games at Blizzard, Riot, EA, and Sky Castle, and consulting on 26 titles…

Game after game dying because their great ideas were shackled by misaligned systems that seem good at a glance, but are filled with subtle flaws.

So why don’t the designers fix those problems 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 they kill the game?

Because most designers rely on a mix of intuition and trial-and-error across countless playtests.

That doesn’t work for system design.

You can tweak and playtest 30 seconds of gameplay all day, but can’t iterate on 30 hours of progression, much less 30 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.

Data Analytics can’t save you either. It’s the same problem, you need 30 days of play to gather 30 days of data. AI is a non-starter, this kind of contextual analysis is exactly what they’re terrible at. You need better tools.

That’s why I created this bootcamp.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼:
• Apply 41 frameworks for designing and balancing systems across progression, retention, economy, and social that keep players invested for 200+ hours
• Create economies that support long-term engagement instead of quietly destroying it
• Justify your design choices to your team members and studio leadership through proven, analytical frameworks
• Create feature maps, source-sink diagrams, interlocking MMI goal structures, and other tools for solving problems that you can’t solve through playtesting

By the end of this bootcamp, you will see games the way architects see buildings.

Systems designers understand structure, incentives, and player behavior – principles that apply to every genre.

This is why great systems designers have some of the best job options in the industry, and there are never enough great ones to go around.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀:
• Starts Week of May 30th and runs for 12 weeks
• Enrollment closes May 29th
• 2 sessions per week, each 2 hours in length
• 5 Guest Instructors | 1 Adjunct
• Practical Focus: with mock Interviews, Design Tests, and Portfolio Documents

I’ll be presenting live over Zoom, not using pre-recorded lectures. You’ll be able to ask questions and get immediate answers.

You can see the full breakdown here: https://gamedesignskills.com/courses/mastering-game-systems-design-bootcamp/

If you have questions about the bootcamp or whether it’s right for you, DM me directly.

P.S. Game Design Skills, the company I’m working with, offers a limited number of partial scholarships for those facing financial challenges, layoffs, and currency disparities to support the current job market.