(Yes, this is about you.)
Let’s skip the polite intro.
A game developer who doesn’t play video games is like a chef who “doesn’t really eat food.”
Technically possible.
Practically terrifying.
“I stopped playing games years ago. I just focus on development now.”
— Someone whose UI definitely hurts
“I Don’t Have Time to Play Games”
🚩🚩🚩 RED FLAG 🚩🚩🚩
This sentence usually translates to:
- “I design from memory”
- “I think players still tolerate 2012 UX”
- “I’m about to ship a 40-minute tutorial”
Let’s be clear:
If a filmmaker said they don’t watch movies…
If a musician said they don’t listen to music…
If a game dev says they don’t play games…
Only one of these gets defended online.
(It shouldn’t.)
Players Don’t Experience Your Code
(Shocking, I know)
Players never say:
- “Wow, what a clean architecture”
- “This inheritance tree is beautiful”
- “10/10 state machine”
They say:
- “This feels clunky”
- “Why did I die?”
- “Why is the menu fighting me?”
- “Why is this sound lying to me?”
If you don’t play games regularly, your design process becomes:
“It makes sense to me”
which is the most dangerous sentence in game development.
Analytics Are Not Taste
📊 ≠ 🎮
Analytics tell you:
- Where players quit
- What they clicked
- How long they stayed
Analytics do not tell you:
- Why something felt annoying
- Why a jump felt floaty
- Why the audio cue confused players
Taste is built by playing games.
Lots of them.
Otherwise you end up saying:
“Players just don’t get it”
which is dev-speak for
“I didn’t feel this before shipping it.”
If You Don’t Play Modern Games, You’re Shipping a Museum Exhibit
This is how you end up with:
- Menus that feel like tax forms
- No remappable controls
- Audio with zero feedback
- Difficulty spikes labeled as “intended challenge”
Meanwhile players are thinking:
“Every other game solved this five years ago.”
They’re not being rude.
They’re being accurate.
“I’m a Developer, Not a Gamer”
🧢 Biggest Cap in Game Dev
This mindset creates games that feel like:
- Work
- Tutorials pretending to be fun
- Systems that exist because someone thought they should
Games are not:
- Spreadsheets
- Feature checklists
- Resume projects
They are experiences.
If you don’t enjoy experiencing games, you’re designing emotionally blind.
Bad Games Are Free Education
(If You Actually Play Them)
Playing bad games teaches you:
- How bad UI feels instantly
- Why unclear audio cues ruin trust
- How friction kills motivation
- When a game disrespects your time
Developers who don’t play games:
- Repeat solved mistakes
- Get shocked by negative reviews
- Blame the audience
Players already took this class.
You skipped it.
Empathy Patch: Not Installed
Have you played a game:
- After work?
- Tired?
- Distracted?
- With low patience?
Congratulations—you now understand why:
- Save systems matter
- Checkpoints matter
- Clear feedback matters
- Fast restarts matter
If you haven’t, you’ll call these “non-essential.”
Players will call them “why I uninstalled.”
“But I Test My Own Game”
Ah yes.
The classic:
“I’ve played my game a thousand times.”
That’s not playing.
That’s Stockholm syndrome.
Testing your own game does not replace playing other games.
It just makes you blind to your own design problems faster.
You Don’t Need to Be Hardcore
You Need to Be Aware
No one’s asking you to:
- Grind ranked
- Speedrun everything
- Play 8 hours a day
But if you’re not:
- Playing your genre
- Feeling modern UX
- Noticing player tolerance
- Seeing how standards evolve
Then you’re designing for a player that no longer exists.
Players Can Tell
They Always Can
Players instantly recognize games made by:
- People who love games
vs - People who love shipping
Polish, pacing, feel, and respect are not accidents.
Great games are made by people who enjoy being players.
So if you want to make engaging games:
- Play games
- Hate bad design
- Admire good design
- Feel the frustration
- Feel the joy
Because if you’ve stopped enjoying games…
Your players will notice
long before your analytics do.