Like any small company, we each wear a lot of hats at Thinglefin. For instance,  Jeremy is de facto IT guy and web site administrator in addition to his primary role as high arcanist/coder.  That seems to make sense to most people, and no one seems to question that particular combination.

But often, when discussing my own contributions to Thinglefin, I find that people are surprised that I’m both the business guy and game designer guy. Now admittedly I have no prior experience running a company and for the people that know me, thats likely the root of their surprise. However, I get the same reaction from people I’ve only just met. Its like the two roles don’t fit together in the interdisciplinary cosmology; they’re on opposite poles from each other.

Of course I understand how, on the surface, game design and business planning seem unrelated at best, and possibly antithetical at worst. However, when viewed in a certain light, I actually find that the two have a lot in common.

Good game design communicates a vision of how a game will work. It provides a road map that enables a team of developers to craft a finished product, and just as importantly, it provides course correction when the result doesn’t meet expectations.

Similarly, good business planning communicates a vision of how a company will work. It provides a road map that enables an organization to reach profitability, and just as importantly, it provides course correction when the unexpected occurs.

Both must function with established limits (hardware requirements and market size), occasionally byzantine regulation (ESRB and the IRS), and demanding audiences (beta testers and the board of directors).

And the truly outstanding ones? Well, they’re able to define whole new categories.