About Tiziano Trazzi

Level Design is deciding what goes where in a space, and why, so that moving through it feels natural, interesting and fun to play.

You meet it every day without noticing. The roads, with all their signs and the coloured markings painted on the asphalt. The supermarket that keeps milk and bread at the back, so you walk past every other shelf to reach them, and puts sweets at the checkout, right at a child's eye level. The amusement park where a tall tower, visible from the entrance, pulls you forward. The multi-storey car park with a colour and a number on each floor, so you find your car again. IKEA, with one winding path through every room and a few shortcuts for those who know them.

That's Level Design.

In a game, the same principles decide what you feel. Programmers and Game Designers build the mechanics, artists build the world, writers build the story, composers build the music: the Level Designer, who often has a say in the other disciplines too, puts every piece in the right place at the right moment to make you feel a specific emotional experience.

Behind every choice there's psychology. Our eyes go to light, movement and contrast, so a lit doorway at the end of a dark room feels like the way forward. A wide open area invites you to explore; a narrow corridor puts you on edge. Nobody tells you what to do, yet you go exactly where the level wants you to.

And there's architecture. A good level is a composition: an arch that frames the next objective, a row of columns or lamps that leads the eye, a tower that stands out against the sky. It has to be beautiful to look at and, at the same time, quietly show you the way.

My work starts with gathering references and doing research about the theme of the level or the world, and then it goes on paper, where I sketch layouts and player paths. Then I build the level roughly in the engine with simple shapes and play it as a player would: ugly, but it already works. Once the flow feels right, the artists make it beautiful, and testing and polish turn it into the level you will play, months or years later.

I chose Level Design because, to me, it's the most creative role in game development.

It's where every discipline meets! In a single level I can think like an architect, a director, a storyteller, a psychologist, a game designer, a composer, a player... and more!

I work closely with all the other disciplines to turn all of their work into one experience.

It never lets me stand still. Every level is a new challenge: a new space, a new mood, new rules to test. It takes curiosity, a constant flow of fresh ideas and plenty of trial and error, and that keeps my brain switched on like nothing else.

And the result is something you feel. Every square metre you cross, every action you take, every space, shape, movement, colour, light and sound can make you feel a whole range of emotions.

No other medium puts all of this in your hands at the same time. That's why I love it! <3