Game Design Planning: Reverse Engineering, BM Analysis, and Portfolios

Breaking into the game industry as a designer requires more than just passion—you need a professional portfolio that demonstrates structured, analytical thinking. This written course guides you through the exact documentation methods used by professional game planners to analyze, critique, and pitch game mechanics and business models. You will learn to deconstruct existing successful games, identify core loop weaknesses, and propose actionable, revenue-generating improvements. By studying industry-standard frameworks, you will transform your creative ideas into clear, structured planning documents that game development studios actually want to read. What you'll learn: - Understand foundational game planning terminology, core loops, and system design concepts. - Deconstruct existing games through systematic reverse-engineering and documentation. - Analyze modern game business models, including hybrid monetization, battle passes, and ethical microtransactions. - Write professional game design documents (GDDs) and improvement proposals. - Structure your game planning portfolio to showcase analytical and creative thinking to recruiters. - Apply live-ops and post-launch feature planning principles to modern game design scenarios. We begin with the essential terminology of game loops, player psychology, and monetization systems. From there, you will progress through step-by-step written explanations on analyzing popular titles, drafting professional balance proposals, and formatting your ideas into a job-ready planning portfolio. This course is designed for aspiring game planners, level designers, and entry-level developers looking to build a professional portfolio. No prior game development or programming experience is required. Start mastering the art of professional game planning today.