Paid to Play An Insider's Guide to Video Game Careers Book

Paid to Play, as made famous by gaming web comic "Penny Arcade" is a self-help book about landing your "dream job" in the video game industry. However, though this book touts itself to be a guide to game careers, it's really more of a reality check. Paid to Play is worth a read for those "toying" with the idea of working in the video game industry. The hard-knock style of revealing the reality of the working world in the gaming industry will turn away all but the most serious prospective employees.

Don't get me wrong, this book is a valuable tool, but it reveals the good, bad and ugly in each gaming career. Paid to Play was compiled from a mass email questionnaire sent to hundreds of employees at every level of the corporate ladder, and in almost every niche of the industry. I thought Paid to Play would be a series of Q & A style interviews, but it was actually parsed together from quoted responses. This was actually a more efficient style of relaying the information, and less tedious to read but it also left me wondering what was left on "the cutting room floor" from the responses.

The book covered a wide range of video game careers. In fact, there were far more career options covered in this guide than I had actually considered. As an example, I had approached this guide with an interest in the writing-based jobs. Here it served its function well, while at the same time introducing me to other good fits like strategy guide writing, and multimedia. It was well-worth a read just for this reason alone. Prospective employees may find they are suited to other careers than they were originally aware of, and casual gamers will gain an appreciation and deeper understanding of the industry's inner workings.

Cover to cover, Paid to Play was a little tedious to read. It breaks each career into a set examination format. Opening with a job description, the reader is granted a short blurb about each of the interviewed professionals (many of which the average gamer will recognize). From there it breaks down the perks and hazards of each career. If you're still reading after the good, bad and ugly, suggestions follow including how to land the job and recommended education or strategies for building your resume or portfolio. In some cases, such as art design or programming, the information was slightly out-of-date but through no fault of the authors. It's just how the tech industry functions. The book lends itself slightly better to jumping around to whichever careers interest you, but a complete reading will still reap benefits in the long run. As career guides go, this was a light and easy read, made palatable by short sectioning, classic "Penny Arcade" art and a good sense of humor, especially in the chapter footnotes.

Where this book really shined, in my opinion, was in the "tools" this book provides. Rather than jumping headfirst into an examination of gaming careers, the book opens with a skills tests and a personality examination. This encouraged the reader to self-assess their strengths and weaknesses and get some career ideas, to better envision themselves in their chosen careers. The closing chapters had a great section on resume building (complete with templates), as well as a decent list of resources and contacts for networking and job hunting. The information on "how to get your first job", however, will be common sense to most, and was humorously targeted to the unwashed, parent's basement dwelling gamer geek.

Of special mention were the sections on women in gaming and game careers. Here the game crossed from career guide into a sociology non-fiction. This section was packed with encouragement and advice for any girl gamer hopeful, and still had plenty of insight into the question of why such a male-dominated industry developed in the first place and what can be done about it.

Also of note were the sections on entry level positions. This book revealed some hard truths about the fabled "Video Game Tester" role, and the often idolized "Gamestop" or similar chain retail job. In fact, almost no career in this book was nearly as glamorous as we like to think. Being "paid to play" is a myth, a pipe dream, and if found, a job that will barely pay your rent.

Paid to Play will weed out many of the fence sitters on gaming careers, but those applicants who are serious may find this book encouraging, and find tools to help them break in or become qualified. This career guide was a great learning experience about the industry and the multitude of careers, from the six-figure publishing and developing roles, to the lowly testing and retail jobs. I encourage my fellow gamers to try this book and expand the mind. Set some career goals and dreams, while considering other angles in this book and if nothing more, learn a little more about the industry we patronize.