Who: design3 is teaming up with DP and Gaikai to bring you 'The David Perry Challenge'! The challenge is open to anyone interested in game design, regardless of age, location, expertise, or gaming ability.
What: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play 100 of the top rated video games of all time and write a game design study on each game you play. Your review should discuss what was good and what was bad about the game, instead of a typical game review that covers story, characters, game genre, etc.
Where: Anywhere you play your video games.
When: The challenge starts right now and lasts indefinitely. This is quite a heavy task so there is no time limit to complete it.
Why: We want to give you an advantage in your next game job interview! A well rounded knowledge of ALL types of video games, not just the ones you like, is crucial for finding a job and working in the game industry. By completing this challenge you will not only learn a lot about video game design, you'll prove that you can start a difficult task and finish it. Also, if you successfully complete the challenge you will be rewarded for your hard work with both a 6 month design3 membership AND a personal recommendation for your resume from David Perry himself! A secret second challenge awaits those who are able to complete the first challenge.
How:
1) Start by heading over to GameRankings.com and filtering the games by "All-Time Best". Then go down the list and start playing the games! You can also filter by platforms that you have to make the game list more manageable.
2) Write a full page for each game you study and be sure to include what you liked about the game, what you hated about the game, game mechanics you noticed, emotions you experienced, etc. The point of the challenge is to really study the design of the game and get a good understanding of how it works.
3) After you've studied and written up your 100 pages for the top games send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . We'll then review your game study and, if you're successful, award you the prizes mentioned above!
Good luck from design3 and Gaikai on your game study challenge!
(NOTE: It is also important to learn game development tools and actually make games yourself. The David Perry Challenge is not intended to replace these important steps to becoming a game designer, it's purpose is to add an expert understanding of popular game design and history to these skills. Basically, if you want to become a game designer, you should make your own games AND analyze games that have already been made, especially games that have been successful.)
