I started my game design journey as a psychology major undergraduate in Beijing Normal University. I designed an endless running game as a game-based cognitive assessment for processing speed. I reviewed games, discussed game mechanics, and presented my design weekly to Dr. Li and other members at the Psychological Testing and Assessment Lab. I was so happy! Talking about games and working on games makes me happy. So I realized that games would be “my thing”; it is where my passion lies.

 

One year later, I got into the Games for Learning program at New York University. It is a fascinating program where learning science meets games. Accordingly, my life bounced back and forth between reading literature like Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning and analyzing (also, playing) games. Later, I decided to make my own games. So I taught myself Unity and C#, and several weeks later I was taking classes from NYU Game Center! It was difficult to start from almost nothing, so I kept running to Game Center grabbing people for my questions that Unity forum failed to answer. Thanks to their help I managed through - I made 12 prototypes in one semester. And I have fallen in love with prototyping since then. Seeing my ideas come to life, it is just amazing. 

 

I gradually developed two mindsets, one I got from learning scientists and cognitive scientists, the other from game designers and game developers. I join these two mindsets when I design. I always keep the game presentation simple and clear to reduce the cognitive load; I segment new information into each level to flatten the learning curve… When I play games, I analyze them with these two mindsets too. I appreciate brilliant game designs that teach and train players in an engaging way.

 

After I graduated from NYU, I decided to continue my game development journey by joining Academy of Art University as an MA student. Now I am developing another perspective as a game environment artist. I am so prepared to enter the game industry.