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Description
Today’s guest was an English teacher who later became the lead designer on the blockbuster game, Diner Dash. He breaks down his process for coming up with highly engaging games for major brands and media companies. Also, listen to his advice on making your own games or working for a big game studio and looking for those moments in your life that help you pivot into a new role.
Nick Fortugno is a designer of digital and real-world games and co-founder of the game company Playmatics. Fortugno has been designer, writer, and project manager on dozens of games, most notably as lead designer on the casual blockbuster Diner Dash.
Show Notes
What Made Him Pivot Towards a New Role
Nicholas recognized that the decisions made in GameLab were decisions that he can make as well. He no longer saw a big difference in the decisions that they were making and his ability to make decisions. At that time, he also met his co-founder in Playmatics and she was also interested in a career shift. This ended into an opportunity to take the next step. It was all about the recognition that he also had leadership skills which led them to start Rebel Monkey.
How to MakeYour Own Games or Working for a Big Game Studio
Playmatics is a game development and design studio that has been here for 7 years now. They do a variety of different kinds of work but a lot of it is focused on innovative game design. They don’t make clones of pre-existing games or borrow from what you currently see in the market place. They take the lessons they see from the market place and introduce new things out of them. They turn ideas into concepts, produce products and strategize on how these can be distributed. This places them into a position to work with a clientele that is unusual for other game companies. As the commercial places became harder to navigate for games, they have been able to move smoothly into impact game development and brand game development.
Show Mention
– MDA Formal Approach to Game Design
– Fav app: Signal (iTunes)