If you browse Reddit or Facebook game dev groups, where the expurt game devs hang out, you’ll find different opinions on the #1 skill every game developer NEEDS to have.
Of course, these opinions are based on years of wisdom gained purely through acting smart whenever someone asks a question in those places.
One of the things you’ll see often is “algorithms and data structures.”
I laugh every time I see a dumb comment like this because I know it comes from software devs who have no idea how game development works. So it’s safe to say this is not the most important thing every game dev needs to know.
Another valuable advice is “know how the game engine breathes.”
So now we’re supposed to save game engine lives by performing mouth to mouth. I’m generally confused when I read insights like this. That being said, we can’t even put this in the top 10 things a game dev needs to know.
Next up, we have the good old SOLID principles and design patterns.
This one is actually important. It will help you become a better game dev and write better code for sure. But, it is not the most vital thing you need to know.
Moving forward, we have portfolio.
I cringe when I see this. Yes, you need to have a portfolio to land a job, but this is not a skill.
Sure there are good and bad ways to create a cv, and I show the best approach to this problem in my game dev academy.
But again, it has nothing to do with development skills. This is why I call people in those forums “the expurts.”
Now we have optimization.
Very important sure. Especially if you work on mobile games or looking to get hired in a mobile game studio.
Yet you can get your way around without this skill. Not for too long, though, but enough to get your foot through the game dev industry door.
Which means this is not the most important skill to have.
One of the favorites of many game dev goo-roo’s is debugging.
A vital skill to have for sure. Especially if you’re a game dev programmer and that is your only role.
But it is not the #1 skill a game dev can’t be without.
“Fahir, you’ve listed all these essential skills, but it’s none of them. WHAT IS IT THEN?”
Well, my friend, what I’m referring to is something you’ll never find on these expurt forums or any youtube tutorial. Not even the high priced goo-roo class game dev courses I’ve seen around.
If you have all the skills listed above but without this main crucial one, everything will be in vain.
Yet this one skill combines everything I’ve mentioned into one, plus it gives you much more.
If you plan to get a job, you need to know this. And if you want to keep your job then you need it even more.
“Fahir, please tell me what is it already?”
Oh, I will, for sure.
But I can’t let this simple yet valuable info spread around just like that.
That is why I talk about this skill only in the academy, and I show you in different variations how to implement it and how to master it.
Click the link below to join and get your unfair advantage over all other game developers who don’t know this.
Fahir
