Ügyek

As a board game designer with a BSc in Cognitive Psychology who now teaches iterative prototyping at Concordia University, I see a gap every semester in how we train new designers. Students arrive with brilliant ideas about theme and mechanics but no framework for understanding how players actually think, feel, and make decisions during a game. They design for themselves — for what feels intuitive to them — and are genuinely surprised when playtesters react differently. The gap is not one of talent but of literacy: we teach systems and materials but not the human operating system those systems run on. The case for making psychology core curriculum: game design is fundamentally about shaping human experience. A designer who understands cognitive load theory knows why a crowded player board frustrates rather than challenges. Someone familiar with decision-making heuristics can predict when a negotiation game will create analysis paralysis. A designer who has studied emotional regulation — which is exactly the work I am doing now with my current project on games for teen emotional wellbeing — can build mechanics that calm rather than overstimulate. We do not let architects graduate without structural engineering. We should not let game designers graduate without understanding the minds they are designing for. The counterargument: game design is a craft, not a science. Many celebrated designers came from mathematics, literature, or no relevant degree at all. Requiring psychology creates gatekeeping — it adds cost, prerequisites, and barriers that push out students from non-traditional backgrounds. Great design comes from iteration and playtesting, not from theory. And the best way to learn what works is to make games, not to study models of the mind. The field has thrived without this requirement; imposing it would shrink the pipeline of new voices. The question is not whether psychology is useful — it clearly is. The question is whether it should be a required, assessed part of a design degree or whether it should remain an elective for those who seek it out. I am genuinely wrestling with this in my own teaching practice and I want the community's wisdom.