Press Start (May 2024)
Play My Resume
Abstract
Since the 1980s, creative job seekers have turned to nontraditional and interactive resume formats to help set themselves apart from other candidates. The “game resume” is one such example that continues to garner praise eleven years after the first publicly available example by graphic designer Robby Leonardi. This study investigates: a) the history of nontraditional and interactive resumes leading up to resumes that are playable; b) a do-it-yourself (DIY) game development culture setting the conditions for short, personal games; and c) the characteristics of an ever-expanding game resume collection on the itch.io games sharing platform. Thirty-three game resumes were isolated and manually reviewed against a comprehensive playtesting protocol, examining key design choices and features. A qualitative analysis of findings was conducted, leading to a more complete understanding of this online phenomenon, and beginning the process of characterizing and solidifying it as an emerging practice. We may reasonably conclude that: a) game resumes are almost always created by game designers, developers, and adjacent creative personalities seeking employment in the games industry; b) common game conventions such as scoring, power-ups, health bars, and inventory systems are intentionally kept light or even omitted altogether; and c) game resumes are designed to be short (less than five minutes of gameplay) and easy (player immortality) to enable an uninterrupted single playthrough.
