Abstract
Problem: What should an aspiring game designer include in their portfolio when applying to a studio?
Approach: Tim Cain breaks down what he expects and hopes to see in a game design portfolio, drawing on decades of hiring experience at RPG studios.
Findings: A strong portfolio demonstrates both breadth (variety of design types) and depth (one area explored thoroughly). Playable demos dramatically increase a candidate's chances. Portfolios should be tailored to the company, and designers who can code have a significant advantage.
Key insight: "Show me, don't tell me" — a playable demo that grabs attention will move your portfolio to the top of the pile every time.
Context
Tim Cain responds to a question from GameDev Tommy asking for advice on what a game design portfolio should contain, especially for someone who hasn't worked at a mainstream studio yet. Tim structures his answer around what he expects to see versus what he'd like to see (which moves candidates to the top of the pile).
Make a Demo
Before getting into portfolio specifics, Tim reiterates his most consistent piece of advice: make a demo. He acknowledges he repeats himself constantly on this point, but candidates keep showing up without one. Free code, art, and engine resources have eliminated all excuses — and when you don't have a demo, it signals you didn't care enough. Other candidates are making demos, so not having one puts you at a disadvantage.
What Tim Expects: Breadth
The first thing Tim looks for is breadth — proof that you can handle a variety of design challenges relevant to your discipline.
System Designers
Show designs for multiple systems: combat, inventory, conversation, quests. Don't just show combat mechanics — that's self-limiting, and the studio may not even be hiring for combat specifically.
Level Designers
Show different environment types with distinct design challenges:
- Forest: Conveys atmosphere without completely blocking line of sight
- Desert: Feels sparse yet intentionally designed, not just a flat brown plane
- Dungeon: Demonstrates knowledge of interior spaces — reserving areas for combat, exploration, puzzles, secret doors, and understanding how stairs consume space
Beyond environment variety, show spaces designed for different purposes: combat encounters, puzzle rooms, exterior navigation. Include points of interest and natural orientation cues (mountain ranges, plateaus) so players can navigate without relying on a compass UI.
Narrative Designers
Write wildly different characters. If all four sample characters are sarcastic and witty, that only shows you can write one voice — your own. Demonstrate range: a sociopath, someone funny, someone so entitled it clouds their entire worldview. Convey personality through dialogue, not exposition. Don't have a character say "I'm entitled" — show it through how they speak.
UI Designers
Show variety: HUD, options menus (graphics vs. sound options may need different layouts), inventory screens (notoriously difficult — show multiple approaches), and quest logs. A quest log design should implicitly communicate the underlying quest system mechanics.
What Tim Expects: Depth
Take one of your broad portfolio pieces and go deep. This means either:
- Big: A level designer's forest should have paths, a creek, a hut, encounter spaces — a fully realized area, not a sketch
- Detailed: A quest system design should cover high-level rules, different quest types (delivery, escort, find-item, kill-NPC, exploration), quest markers, active quest management, map display differences, and how multiple active quests are distinguished
These are things you'll have to do on the job anyway. Doing them now proves you're ready.
What Tim Hopes For: Tailored Portfolios
Your deep-dive piece (or at least one broad piece) should align with what the company actually makes. Tim is an RPG designer at an RPG company — sending a portfolio full of FPS designs misses the mark. Customize your portfolio to the job listing. If they need a combat system designer, call that out explicitly.
What Tim Hopes For: Playable Demos
Tim's strongest preference: something executable. A playable demo is not required, but it's the single most powerful thing you can include. It demonstrates practical ability and lets reviewers experience your design rather than just reading about it.
Designers Who Code
Tim has noticed that designers who know how to code are consistently better at structuring their designs. They communicate better with programmers, get engineers more involved in their work, and produce designs that are inherently more implementable. A programmer reviewing such a design can immediately see "oh yeah, I could build that."
You don't need to be the best programmer in the world. Use whatever engine you're comfortable with — side-scroller engine for side-scrollers, FPS engine for FPS games. Tim cares far less about the engine than about the design itself. He might not even notice which engine you used.
The Underlying Theme: Grab Attention
Across all of Tim's advice, one theme recurs: grab attention. Tim is experienced — he's been in the industry since he was a teenager and has seen nearly everything. But when something surprises him — a unique twist on a common mechanic, an approach nobody's tried — it gets noticed. A demo or portfolio piece that genuinely grabs attention moves you to the top of the queue, earns you an interview, and makes Tim want to hire you.
References
- Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLx31nXDw0