Do you lay awake at night thinking about playing video games? Does your life revolve around daydreaming of coming up with the next version of Halo or Zelda. If you answered yes to either of these two questions, then, my friend, you need to look into becoming a video game designer.

There is a market for video game designers too and it’s a hot one. The demand has never been higher, growing dramatically year after year. This has caused the burgeoning influx of aspiring Video game developers and designers have seen a steady increase in prospective students signing up for video game design schools with the dream that they too can make it as the next creator of video game cult classic.

What types of skills are necessary for the job? Well, to help you get started on this new and exciting path, here are a few of the things you will need to know to get your foot in the door of video game development.

• Put on your thinking cap and come up with a truly original idea. You won’t get anywhere recreating a video game that has been done to death. One way to get the creative juices flowing it to start free-writing about anything or maybe drawing or reading fantasy books.

• You know those classes in school that you hate because they just aren’t as exciting as video games? Well, you’re going to need them. Subjects such as Science, History, Music, and Literature contain some of the best ideas for games that have never been thought of. The more knowledge you have about other areas of the world, the more creative you’ll become in designing more imaginative games based on things other people never heard of. Thin about what school subjects interest you the most and sign up for classes in them.

• A good and underestimated piece of advice is to play as many different styles of video games as possible. Don’t play only the ones you like. That will only stagnate your imagination or allow you to think critically about what gamers other than yourself might like in a video game. By doing so, you’ll start to get an understanding of what makes some games so enjoyable for some people and not so much for others. It doesn’t hurt to play older versions of games too and analyze how much has changed over the years.

It would be quite beneficial for you to know about the business of designing a game. Do this through researching game design on the internet or maybe take an online class in it. Learn how the classics were developed by understanding the process of video game programming.

You are going to need to know math. I’m not talking high school math either. I’m talking calculus and trigonometry since game designers need to know how to balance lots of figures in different dimensions. You can’t do this without an in-depth understanding of math principles.

• While it is not mandatory that you know how to read and write code, it doesn’t hurt. Ask any video game designer out there and they’ll tell you how they wish they learned code when they had the chance.

• Designers need know how to write effectively and be great communicators. Not only will you need to write out the plot or story of your game but you may even need to write the sales pitch for it as well. Begin by writing a few short stories on the subject your game will be about. This should give you some practice with writing as well as a great portfolio for future game ideas.